


Help Me If You Can

by Shellyb04



Series: Voodoo Child [1]
Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Supernatural
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-20
Updated: 2012-04-20
Packaged: 2017-11-03 19:22:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 47,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/384968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shellyb04/pseuds/Shellyb04
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam and Dean meet a British hunter with a secret.  When Sam's wall begins failing, she may have the help the Winchesters need.  Can the boys really trust someone who may or may not work for a secret agency called Torchwood?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Superwho big bang 2012 on lj.
> 
> [Art](http://kia-shyel.livejournal.com/9731.html) and [fanmix](http://kia-shyel.livejournal.com/9519.html) by kiashyel
> 
> Story begins midway through Season 6 of Supernatural.  
> Doctor Who spoilers through Season 6 and Torchwood through Season 2.
> 
> Thanks to kiashyel for being the most awesome cheerleader/artist and bestest friend ever. Also a big thank you to my husband for giving up his wife to this behemoth of a story and for helping me work out the plot details.

**Chapter 1**

The first time Sam and Dean saw the redhead was in Oklahoma.

 There’d been a number of strange disappearances outside a small town. Bobby thought it was a Woman in White and that had tracked with the local stories.  The Winchesters had entered the police station as FBI agents Lee and Liefson.  They flashed their badges and were instantly granted access to the police chief.

“So you’re what brought the press into this?” The old grizzled sheriff shook his head.  “I’ll tell you like I told her, there’s nothing here.  A few men ran out on their wives.  Happens all the time.”

 Sam and Dean exchanged a look.  Press usually meant publicity which was not something they were interested in.  Dean pushed that aside for a moment.

“Seems to happen an awful lot in this town.”  Dean said conversationally.  “And we just want to make sure that’s all it is.  All those cop shows on TV have people convinced there are serial killers everywhere.”  The sheriff laughed slightly at that.

“That’s probably why the press is here too.” Sam said.  “Trying to make a name for themselves.”

“Yeah, ‘spose she seemed the type.”  The boys were quickly given the relevant missing person files and headed to the nearest café to eat and investigate.  Dean noticed a redhead sitting alone toward the back of the café with a notebook twirling a pencil in her fingers.

“Think that’s our journalist, Sammy?” he asked, inclining his head toward the woman.

“Probably.  Think she’s another hunter?” Sam asked.  Dean turned his gaze back to the woman briefly and took in her short skirt, shapely calves, and very unrealistic heels as well as the black square glasses perched on her nose. Her red hair was pulled into a tight bun.

“Nah, but she does remind me of this sexy librarian fantasy I use to have.”  Dean smirked as Sam rolled his eyes. The brothers quickly placed their food order and got down to work. 

“All of the disappearances occurred while the man was driving home…no bodies, no phone calls, nothing.  They just disappeared.”  Sam said glancing through the notes he’d taken.

“The bodies may be somewhere no one would think to look.”

“I’m gonna have to go research the area aren’t I?” Sam said, looking dejected.

“Perhaps not.   May I be of assistance?”   The boys turned to see the journalist standing at their table.  “You must be the FBI boys that stopped in at the station this morning.  I’m Brooke Smith,” she spoke with a slight English accent, “with the Oklahoma Herald."




“Agents Lee and Liefson.” Sam took the woman’s hand and she quickly settled into the boys’ booth.

“Great, we all know each other.  Now what do you want?” Dean asked, harshly.

“I’m willing to give you my map, already marked with areas that are of interest, in exchange for the chance to get an exclusive, of course.”  The woman smiled brightly.

“I’m thinkin’ no.” Dean said, exiting the booth.

“And why not?”

“Listen, Ms. Smith,” Sam cut in.  “There’s no story here.  You’re not going to get anything out of it.  You might as well go home and not worry about it.”

“Then why is the FBI interested?”  Brooke asked pleasantly.

“We’re just having a quick look as a favor.  That’s all.” Sam said.  “Now, we really do need to go.”  The men exited the restaurant, snagging the reporter’s map as they left, thinking they’d never see her again.

**********

The second time they saw her, she was pulling out of a cemetery in Nebraska as they were pulling in.  They’d come to quickly dispatch a ghost, only to find the “journalist” must have beaten them to the punch, as the grave they’d come to dig up had been freshly turned and the bones were charred.

The third time they saw her she was introducing herself as Christie Harkness of Interpol.  Dean started to say something, but since they’d already introduced themselves as Agents Hewson and Evans this week, Sam stopped him.

“Hello boys,” she said turning towards them.  Dean would never admit he sort of liked the way she drew out the end of her hello.

“If you’re here about those strange bodies, we’re on it.” Dean said. 

“Maybe we could join forces,” ‘Christie said. “After all, I’m all for international relations.”  She lecherously looked Dean up and down.

“I don’t think so.  We’ve got this,” Dean said.

“Besides, we don’t play well with others.” Sam finished, stepping up behind Dean.  ‘Christie’s’ face immediately lost its flirtatious air.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”  she turned to Sam.  “I didn’t realize you two were together.  My apologies. I don’t hit on committed men.”  And before either brother could respond she’d gone.

Luckily for the boys, ‘Christie’ stuck around town.  When they were killing one werewolf, another had jumped out at them and immediately knocked Dean’s gun away.  But the faux Interpol agent had been able to shoot the creature before it could maul Dean.  He’d barely had time to give her a nod before picking up his own gun to take out the werewolf still attacking his brother.  Dean turned to thank her, but only saw a pair of tail lights heading down the road.

The fourth time the boys saw the woman, she was being tackled by a rather ugly, misshapen creature that they’d never seen before.  Dean immediately fired at it and it dropped… right on top of her.  Christie, or Brooke, or whatever the hell her name was, rolled the creature off of her.

“Thanks, didn’t realize there’d be two of them.”  The woman stood and dusted off her jeans.

“No problem.” Dean said.  “Need some help burying them?”

 She turned her head and smiled a wide, slightly maniacal grin.

“Sure.  Who’d be helping me though?  The lead singers of Rush or is it Bono and the Edge here tonight?” 

Dean grinned back at her.

“Actually, we’re Walsh and Williams, this time.” 

“Kansas, nice.  I’m more a Beatles woman myself.”

Sam had finally joined the two and they began digging.

“And who are we helping this evening?  The journalist or the Interpol agent?”

“Actually, I got the Interpol idea from you lot.  I can get lots of people to open up about local legends with the journalist bit, but Agent Harkness gets the police’s attention a bit better.  Today you’re actually helping Ms. Martha Noble, Private Investigator.”

“Aren’t you missing the glasses?” Dean asked.

“Ah, the glasses are useful to the journalist look because they tend to put people in mind of the quiet librarian type.”

 Sam snickered. 

“And for some reason, that tends to make men open up to me a bit more.”    




“Can’t imagine why.” Dean choked out as he continued to shovel a bit faster. 

“So how about a drink?” Sam asked once the trio finished burying the creatures.  “And you can tell us what those things were?”

“Besides, we owe you a meal from Oklahoma,” Dean reasoned.

“Sure, long as we go some place with some good chips…or sorry, fries.  I’ve been in the States for a few years, but I still tend to slip up with your Americanisms once in a while.”  ‘Martha’ smiled.

The trio quickly reassembled at a bar just down the road.

“So those things are called Weevils.  They typically live underground and feed off sewage.”  Martha said.

“Ah, thanks for that.” Dean said pushing away the burger he’d been eyeing with considerable hunger a moment ago.

“So, what were they doing here?” Sam asked.

“I don’t know.  I’ve honestly never seen one this far outside of Cardiff before.” the woman admitted.

“Cardiff, Wales?” Sam asked.

 “Yeah, there’s a sort of energy source there.  The Weevils tend to stay near it.  The two tonight are the only ones I’ve ever seen in the States, so you’ll probably never see them again.”  She said digging into her fries.  “So how long have you two been together anyway?”  The boys stared at her in stunned silence.  “I think it’s really sweet to be able to hunt with your partner like—“

“Hold it.” Dean hissed. “We’re not…” He pointed between Sam and himself.

“We’re so not.” Sam agreed, disgust evident in his voice.  “We’re brothers.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”  The woman’s face began to match her hair.

“It’s happened before, unfortunately.” Sam said.

“Well, you can see why, right?”

“No, not really.” Dean answered, slightly annoyed.

"Two guys, late twenties or early thirties traveling together, no females remotely attached.Not to mention the way the two of you interact with each other.”   




“What do you mean?” Sam asked.

“Well, it’s something you see with couples who’ve been together for awhile; there’s an instinctual thing of knowing where the other person is at all times.  On a hunt you two move like it’s a complicated dance and well, you’re a bit territorial with each other.  And then there’s the possessiveness.”

“But,” Dean interjected. “We’re just brothers.  We grew up as hunters.”

“I can see that more now. You both have certainly checked out enough girls in here.  Not to mention the wandering eye at the restaurant.”

“Possessiveness?” Sam asked.

“When I was flirting with your brother, you came up behind him like he belonged with you.  It was a clear ‘back off’ message and the only reason I knew of that you would want me to back off was because he was yours.” Both men sat slightly flabbergasted. The woman finished her fries and winked at the boys.  “Well, I’ve got to be off.  So, until we meet again Agents Walsh and Williams.” 

“Hey wait.  If you ever run into something you need help with, this is our friend Bobby’s number.  He can get in contact with us…or other hunters.” Sam said, handing the ginger woman a card.

“Good, thanks mate.”  And with that she was gone again.

Their next meeting with the mysterious woman was in Kansas City a few weeks later.  The boys were barreling down an alley from a shape shifter when Dean tripped. He closed his eyes waiting for the inevitable grab from the monster but all that happened was a couple of loud pops. Dean and Sam jerked around to see Martha or Christie or whoever holding a still smoking gun.

“Hello sweeties.” She took a moment to grin at them. 

“Shifter?” Sam nodded as he lifted his brother up from the ground. 

“Silver bullets kill it right?”  Dean nodded again. Both boys were rendered speechless by the quick save. 

“Good, now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s a Blowfish trying to steal a car around the corner.”  The woman quickly exchanged her gun for a taser and tore down the street.  The Winchesters immediately chased after her.  They turned the corner just as she shot the taser at what must have been the Blowfish.  The creature immediately fell to the ground.  Dean opened his mouth to speak, but was silenced by the redhead as she tapped an earpiece. “The creature is secure, Martha.  Move in.” 

“So, I guess your name’s not Martha then is it?” Dean asked.  Before the woman could respond two SUVs arrived on the scene.

“Thanks, dear,” an African American woman said pulling her into a hug as soon as she’d exited the vehicle.  Her uniform had U.N.I.T. emblazoned on the arm.

“You’re welcome, Martha. But next time, try to have your new recruits trained a bit better.” The woman gave a wink to Martha as she placed the earpiece into her hand.

“You are getting to be more like Jack every day.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

 Martha glanced toward the brothers.

“Civilians?  Do I need retcon?”

“No, they’re hunters.  This is…” The woman trailed off sheepishly.  Martha raised an eyebrow and snickered at her.

“I’m Sam Winchester and this is my brother Dean.”  Sam said.  “We’ve met your friend a few times, but never under the right circumstances, Miss…”

“Dr. Martha Smith-Jones and don’t worry about the name thing, I understand. Her father’s always running from one place to another too.”  Martha turned her attention back to the woman.  “Do you need anything else?  We can drop you back at your car.” 

“Actually, if it’s okay with her, Sam and I were going to take her out.  We can drop her back by her car later.” Dean smiled his most charming smile.  “We like to treat people who save our lives to dinner.”

“Fine.”

“Wish her father had that rule.” Martha muttered as the redhead grinned at the boys. 

“I’ll see you later, Martha.”

Once the UNIT crew had loaded the fishy creature into their van, the military group left rather quickly. The woman waved them off before turning back to the Winchesters.

“I suppose it’s only fair that I tell you my name’s Amara…Amara Song.” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

“I suppose it’s only fair that I tell you my name’s Amara…Amara Song.”  She smiled at the boys.  “I can assume Sam and Dean are your proper names and not more aliases, correct?”

The boys nodded.

“Good, so now we’re all on equal footing.  Where are you taking me to eat?” 

“I think there’s a diner up the road.  That work?” Dean asked as the trio headed toward the Impala.

“Sure,” Amara replied. Sam opened his mouth to speak, but she quickly continued. “However, all questions about what happened tonight will have to wait until there is food in front of me.”

Sam snapped his mouth closed as Dean snickered.

The group quickly settled into the booth at the diner and gave their order.  As soon as Amara’s salad and burger was placed in front of her, Sam looked up expectantly.  She took a small bite of burger.

“Okay, ask away Sammy boy.” 

“What was that thing you shot?”

“It’s called a Blowfish.” 

“What are they going to do with it?” Dean asked.

“Hold it until they can either find a way to send it home or rehabilitate it.  Martha will make sure it’s not being mistreated.”

“What’s UNIT?” Sam asked.

“Unified Intelligence Taskforce.  They’re supposed to be quite secret.”  Amara smiled at them.  “Best pretend you’ve never heard of it.”

“How did you find us?” Dean asked as Sam was pondering the secret international army.

“Ah, I noticed the Impala as I was cutting across the street and when I was running into the alley, I saw you two being chased.  I recognized Sasquatch over there and realized who it had to be based on the car as well, which meant monster. Then I remembered hearing several of the UNIT members complaining about eyes flares on cameras, so I switched my taser for my gun.  Saw Dean go down and had to make my move.”

“You put all of that together as you were running?” Sam asked, impressed.

“To be honest, hunting Blowfish isn’t that mentally taxing.  UNIT had actually managed to implant a tracking device, but as this is that particular team’s first time in the field, Martha asked me for help…plus she wanted to check up on me.”

“And you just happened to have silver bullets?”

“I always have silver bullets in my clip. Things that can be killed with bullets don’t tend to be immune to silver and several beasties can only be killed with it.”  Amara shrugged.  “I also carry salt rounds and a clip of regular bullets in my purse.”

“That’s really smart.” Sam said, glancing over at Dean pointedly.

“Thanks.”  An odd silence descended onto the table as the three ate.

“So, how did you start hunting anyway?” Sam asked

“Well, protecting people sort of runs in my family.  My Uncle Jack runs a sort of protection agency in Wales and my Mum travels around, mostly helping people.  My dad protects people as well, so I’ve heard.”

 “So you’ve heard?” Dean asked, quietly.

“My dad is apparently a…expert on lots of things.  Least that’s what Mum and Jack always tell me.  I’ve never actually met him personally.”

“So how did you get into hunting monsters?” 

“That wasn’t until I came to America a few years ago; a hunter rescued me and several others from a vengeful spirit in North Carolina.  From there it was cake.” Amara finished off the last of her salad and turned her attention back to her burger. “So how about you two?  What made you get into hunting?”

“A demon…it killed our mom when I was a baby.” Sam said, after an awkward silence.  “After that, our dad became a hunter and taught us.”

“I’m sorry.”  Amara got a serious tone in her voice.  “Losing a parent can’t be easy.”  She hesitated for a moment. “So hunt anything unusual lately?”  The trio moved on to lighter topics for the rest of their meal followed by Dean’s pie.

“And I just can’t get enough of _Dr. Sexy, M.D_.  I swear the shows you all have over here are amazing.  In the U.K. most of the series…seasons are only thirteen episodes…Getting a full twenty-two hours of Dr. Sexy is amazing.”

“Did you see the one where he had to save the girl in an elevator after the power had gone out?” Dean asked eagerly.

“Oh and the girl’s mother was just right outside.”

“Yeah.”

“That one was great.” 

Sam shook his head as the trio headed back to the car. 

“Hey, here’s our…emergency number.”  Dean said, placing the slip of paper into her hand.  “We only give it to certain people and we try to check it every day or so.” 

“And here’s mine, in case you ever come across anything too weird for you.”  She winked at him.

“Like what?’

“Oh, I dunno an Ood or a Dalek.”  Amara said with a laugh.  “Although if you meet a Dalek, I recommend running.”

“And how would we know—“ Dean was cut off by the sound of Sam falling next to the car and he immediately rushed to his brother’s side.

“No, Sammy.”  Dean held the thrashing giant down to the ground.  His vision blurred as his eyes filled with tears.  “Death promised the wall would hold, bastard.”

“What wall?” Amara asked.

“Long story. Sam was in hell for a year or so.  To keep him from going nuts, Death put up a wall to block those memories,” Dean answered distractedly, trying to hold his brother in place.  Amara immediately knelt down next to the brothers.

“Do you trust me, Dean?”  The older brother glanced at the woman quizzically. “I want to help Sam, but I can’t if you don’t trust me.  I promise I‘ll do my best to explain things afterward.”

“Do whatever you can to help Sam.” Dean said with a nod.  Amara placed her hands on Sam’s temples a moment later, his shaking subsided.

_“AHHH!!!” Amara followed Sam’s screams until she found him covered in flames.  She quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him._

_“Run.”  Sam obediently followed Amara until they came to a wall with a gaping hole in the middle. “Climb through.”  The man quickly did so and Amara followed. She began to pull at the wall trying to close it._

_“Why would he make this so thin?  Was he trying to let it fail?”_

_“What do you mean?” Sam asked._

_“Whoever put this wall up intentionally made it rather thin.  It’s almost like pizza dough.  Whenever I pull one spot, another seems to weaken. Hmmm…” the woman trailed off studying the wispy material.  “maybe I could add another layer for now.”  As she spoke a wall of what looked like dry wall formed blocking the last of the holes in the wall.  “That should do the trick for a bit. Now, your brother is really worried, love.  Time to wake up, Sam.”_

And suddenly, Sam was opening his eyes to see his very worried brother’s face and Amara’s hands pulling away from his head.

“What just happened?” Sam asked.

“Dunno, exactly.   Amara, here, touched your head and you stopped convulsing.  Then, she started sweating.  A few minutes later, you woke up.”  Dean helped Sam off the pavement.  “Now you said you’d explain?”  Dean asked.

Amara nodded tiredly.




“Are you guys staying somewhere close?  This isn’t really a parking lot kind of conversation.” Amara swayed slightly on her feet and Dean rushed over to steady her.  “I’m fine.  That just took a lot out of me.  So, can we put off getting my car till morning?  I’ll tell you whatever I can once we get where you’re staying.”

The men glanced at each other before exchanging a quick nod.  Amara climbed into the back seat of the Impala and was asleep before they left the parking lot.  Dean glanced in his rearview mirror to make sure the woman was sleeping soundly before he spoke to his brother.

“What happened?” He finally asked.

“I’m not sure.  She was in my head.  She pulled me out of the memory of hell and …sort of reinforced the wall Death put in.”

“How the hell’d she do that?”

Sam shrugged.  “I dunno.  But she did say that there was no reason for the wall to be as thin as it was.  She seemed to think that Death wanted the wall to fail.” 

“Huh.” Dean said, thoughtfully.  The Winchesters fell into silence as they thought back over what they knew about this woman.

“Maybe she’s psychic.” Sam finally said. “Like me.”

“But you aren’t anymore. Unless you’ve been hiding something from me, your mojo’s been gone ever since you kicked the demon juice.”  Dean said, glancing sharply at his brother.

“It’s still gone, don’t worry.  But maybe she gets hers a different way.”

“Or maybe we’ve been taken in by demon,” Dean said incredulously.  The men exchanged wary glances as they pulled into the hotel.




“Or she could be working for one.  Trying to spy for Meg?” Sam offered.  “You did paint the Devil’s Trap in front of the door?”

“Like always.” Dean nodded.

“So we make her walk in by herself to ensure she’s not a demon and then tie her up for safekeeping.” Sam said, hesitantly.

"Sammy, if she wanted us dead, we would be.  How simple would it have been for her to have let the shape shifter get us tonight?  She could’ve left you rotting there on the ground if she was trying to avoid suspicion.”   Dean glanced back at Amara again.  “Seriously look at the girl. She’s half dead already.” 




Dean pulled into the parking space at the motel and gently shook the woman’s shoulder.  The woman wearily followed the boys toward their room. She hesitated at the door.

“Nice Devil’s Trap, boys.”  She walked through without any problems.  “Any other tests?” 

“All kinds of monsters aren’t bothered by Devil Traps.” Sam said.

“True.”  Amara let out a yawn.  “Okay, my story…”

“Can wait for the morning.” Dean said decisively. “You’ve saved our lives twice now and I think you deserve some rest.”

“Really…but I thought…And you guys saved my life too.”  Amara’s words argued, but her head was already hitting the pillow.  “Normally, I’d be fine, but Martha caught me at the end of a hunt and I’ve been hunting the Blowfish for like thirty hours, which means I haven’t slept in about forty-eight hours and add the whole Sam-wall thing on top of that…”

“We understand.” Dean assured her.  “Now, sleep.”

 And Amara did.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Dean jerked awake with a start.  Something wasn’t right.  It only took him a few seconds to realize that the bed he’d been sitting next to all night was empty.

As he pulled out his gun, Dean quickly kicked the bed where Sam was still asleep.

“Sammy, get up.  She’s gone.” 

Sam was almost immediately awake, reaching under the pillow for his own weapon.  Dean was just turning toward the door as it opened.  He and Sam pulled their guns up to aim at the intruder.

“Uh, hey guys?” Amara said, confused.  “I just went for a quick walk…and picked up some doughnuts. “ She sat the bag she was carrying on the table.  “Sorry for…scaring you.”  Dean slowly lowered his gun.

“Why didn’t you leave a note or anything?” Sam asked.

“I didn’t think about it.  I honestly needed to figure some stuff out.  My story is sort of…well, unbelievable.  I took a walk to clear my head so I can, hopefully, explain everything to you.”

“With the things we’ve seen, getting us to believe you shouldn’t be too hard.” Dean said picking up the bag of food and plopping himself back onto the bed.

“Well, I figure I’ll just give you the basics and if you want to know more, you can ask.”  Amara looked around at the boys.  “I’m honestly tired of hiding this stuff from everyone I know here in the States.”  She settled herself onto the bed.  “Basically, my father has telepathic abilities as well.  I inherited them.”

“But how did your father have it?” Sam asked, forcefully.

“Well…here’s where we enter the disbelief phase.  My father is the last member of his race. His planet doesn’t exist anymore. They all have the telepathic abilities.  My mum is mostly a normal human, though, so my abilities are more limited than my father’s,” Amara explained.

“I’m sorry,” Dean asked.  “Did you just say planet?  As in not from Earth?”

“As in alien?” Sam finished his brother’s thought incredulously.

“I told you it was hard to believe.”

“Seriously?  Alien? You expect us to believe you’re an alien rather than a particular race of demon or that you’ve received a gift from Eve to help spy on us.” Sam said, his fingers curling around the gun sitting next to him.

“Who’s Eve?”  Amara said slowly.  “Listen, I offered to help with your head, but…I’m thinking I may need some background here as well.  Like why were you in hell for a year and how did Death put a wall up in your head?  I want to be honest with you guys, but that has to go both ways.”

The brothers glanced at each other. Sam seemed hesitant but Dean eventually nodded his head.

“We could do that.”

“Dean…”

“Sam, this chick saved your butt out there. If we can’t start trusting someone we’re gonna be screwed.  That wall won’t hold forever and we all know it.  Plus, we need all the help we can get with Eve. Let’s table the whole alien thing for now.  We’ll talk to Bobby and Cas about it.”

“Dean, you can’t force someone to trust.  If Sam can’t trust me, then I can’t really help him.  I can tell you this much though, I’ve helped someone with a similar problem before.  It wasn’t exactly the same, but she couldn’t remember a certain period of her life without her head exploding and she got more than nine hundred years of someone else’s memories.  I had to help her catalogue most of those memories and go through all the memories of the time she lost.”  Amara trailed off.  “You guys have my number, and if you change your mind about being honest with me, give me a call.” 

The woman headed toward the door and then stopped, “Uh, this sort of ruins my exit, but my car is on the other side of town.” 

Dean cracked a smile at her and grabbed his keys.

“I’ll be back, Sammy.”  The duo headed for the car.

“Our story is probably just as unbelievable to you as yours is to us, ya know.”  Dean said, slipping behind the wheel of his baby.

“I’m pretty open-minded.  I’d have to be.  My dad being an alien is only part of the weirdness that is my life, so I have to be willing to take everything in stride.”

“You’re not just trying to screw with us about the whole ‘Dad’s an alien’ thing, are you?  I mean, you actually believe it.”

“Yes, and I’ve seen proof.  I’m not blindly accepting my mom or Uncle Jack’s word.  That Weevil thing: alien.  The Blowfish from last night: also an alien.  Did you remember a few years ago when the Prime Minister of England assassinated the U.S. President?  The PM was an alien as well.  It’s everywhere, people just haven’t come to accept it as of yet.” 

Dean stared thoughtfully out at the road.

“I’m not saying I’m ready to believe you or anything, but I can see why you’d be hesitant to trust anyone with the truth.  No matter what it is,” Dean said after awhile.  “And you make sense.  The truth is…Sam and I…we’re…well, do you remember all the weather craziness two years ago or so?”

“I wasn’t in America for that, but most of my contacts seemed to think the Apocalypse was coming.”   




Dean nodded, “I can’t go into detail, but it was. We…that is Sam, me, and a few friends…we were able to stop it.  But it cost a helluva lot and it’s been hard for a while since.  We lost some good people ending it.”

“Wait, you mean the Apocalypse as in Lucifer and Michael’s great battle Apocalypse?  As in angels and everything? Huh.  Well, yeah I can see why you wouldn’t want to spread that around to many people.”

“But that’s how Sam went to Hell.  Lucifer was possessing him and…” Dean’s voice choked as he flashed back to that day.  “Sam got control long enough to throw himself into the pit.”  Dean pulled into the shopping mall parking lot where Amara had left her car.

“And he’s been pulled out since, but…that only partially explains the missing memories, Dean.”

“I know.”  Dean hesitated.  “I’m gonna level with you.  It’s been awhile since we’ve had anyone to trust that wasn’t there for all of this.  Sam…he was brought back, but he didn’t have a soul at first.  His soul was still in hell.”

“Bloody hell!” Amara said.  “And somehow you convinced Death himself to put it back into Sam.  Wow, that’s…that’s bloody insane.  The damage that could have been caused from even a few days...How long?  How bloody long were the soul and body separated?”

“Well, I don’t know exactly when he got back, but maybe a year…year and a half.”

“Oh, that is so not good.”  Amara said, her eyes going far away.  “Hmm, I may have to bring someone in to help me with this.  I’ll need to fly back to Wales for a few days.  Would it bother you if I got Jack’s help?  He has some psychic training.  Either him or my friend Donna.  Donna’s the one I helped before and she’s absolutely brilliant.”

“I dunno.  Sam and I….we’re…pretty private people.”  Dean fumbled.  “Normally, I’d say yeah with no problem, but with all the trouble we’ve had in the past few years…”

“May I ask them for advice about you anonymously?” Amara said, flicking her long fingernail against the door handle as she began to construct ways to help Sam and also keep Jack off her back about it.

Dean slowly nodded his head.  “I guess that couldn’t hurt.  And if you really trust these people and need to tell them more…I suppose you can. But there’s still a lot you don’t know about us.  I don’t think any of it is relevant, but well…you have my number, if any questions com up.”

“Okay, Dean.  And I promise, I won’t say anything more than basic details without your permission.”  Amara pulled her phone out and double checked the number Dean had given her.

“Listen, Amara,” Dean followed her as she got out of the car. “I’m honestly sorry about Sam.  He and I…let’s just say being trusting has never been very rewarding.”

"I’m just glad I might be able to help.  And it’s not that easy for me to trust you either.  You have a lot of enemies and I’ve spent most of my life under the radar.  Helping you…it will be either my worst mistake or the best decision ever.”  She leaned over and kissed his cheek, before handing him her gun.   “Hold onto this for me, sweetie. I’ll call you when I’m back.”  And before Dean could say another word, she had hopped into the little rental car.




********

Amara settled into her car and watched the Impala pull out of the parking lot before pulling out her cell phone.

“What?”  came the gruff voice.

“Hey, is that any way to talk to your favorite hunter?”  Amara asked.

“What do you want, Amara?” The man’s voice took on a decidedly kinder cadence.

“I was wondering what information you had some hunters called Winchester.”

“As in Sam and Dean? They’re trouble, always have been.”

“Well I just agreed to help them, so I may need a bit more than that.  There’s a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue in it for ya, Rufus?”  She could hear the man grumbling over the line.

“They’re good guys for the most part.  Made a few mistakes.  They’re close with a friend of mine- Bobby.”

“Yeah, they gave me his number a while back.  He’s a friend of yours?”

"Sort of. We use to hunt together once upon a time. He did help me hide a body a few months ago.”

"I’ll send you the info I have right now.”  Amara heard the man shuffle some papers around.   “Just don’t expect much. They keep everything pretty tight lipped.”




“That’s fine. Thanks, Rufus.  The bottle is on its way.”

"Keep it. With those boys, you might need it.”    Rufus hung up the phone and shook his head before booting up his computer and sending the file to Amara.




**************

Amara pulled out her laptop the moment the flight attendant gave the all clear sign and read through the file Rufus Turner had sent.  Amara knew if she needed any information, he was the one to call.  Unfortunately, his info was as scant as he had indicated.  He had birth dates for all the Winchesters and death dates on Mary and John Winchester…as well as Mary’s parents the Campbell’s.  Apparently they were hunters as well.  Dean had made a crossroad’s deal four years ago, almost five now, to save his brother’s life.  Reports weren’t very clear.  Dean had allegedly died and then been seen alive.  The likely conclusion was that he somehow broke the deal, possibly with the assistance of an angel. 

Amara grimaced, her thoughts turning toward the Weeping Angels her mother and Martha had encountered.  Surely they weren’t talking about the same thing. She shook her head and returned to the file. 

Rumors abounded that Sam had helped raise Lucifer from the pit, but those same people had to admit that Sam and Dean had been doing everything in their power to end the Apocalypse, including seemingly taking out the Four Horseman.  Interesting and however they averted it, Sam had apparently gone to hell to stop the end of the world.  Dean had settled into a normal life with a woman and her kid until recently.  Amara knew there had to be holes throughout the file, but it was a good place to start.

**************

By the time Dean had made it back to the motel, Sam was already on the phone to Bobby.

“I know, it sounds like a stretch to us too. But have you heard of an Amara Song?”

A few minutes of silence followed as Sam listened to Bobby’s response.  Dean waited semi-patiently.  He understood why Sam had trouble trusting Amara.  After Ruby, every new person who entered their lives had to have constant scrutiny.  Trust was no longer earned by saving a life, but by what you asked for afterward.  So far, Amara hadn’t asked for anything that demons didn’t already know.

“You haven’t heard of her?  Yeah, sure. Hey see if anyone has heard anything about aliens in Cardiff, Wales while you’re at it, if you can.” 

Another moment of silence.

“Wait, seriously.” 

Dean glanced up sharply at the tone of his brother’s voice.  There was definite surprise there. 

“Yeah, will do.  Thanks, Bobby.”  Sam hung up the phone and turned to his brother.

“Bobby’s going to look into Amara, but apparently there’ve been rumors of a secret British agency handling aliens for years.  Bobby even seems to believe it a bit.  Says it’s called Torchwood.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 “So, that’s the situation, Donna.”  Amara took a sip of her tea.  “I need to figure out how to start integrating the memories back into this guy’s head before he goes crazy or comatose.”

“Hmm…give me a few hours.  If Jack doesn’t have any ideas to help you, I’ll come up with something.  Now, this older brother, how much of a looker is he?” 

Amara looked at her pseudo-aunt incredulously. 

“Oh don’t give me that.  Any woman who grows up around Jack Harkness never gets flustered around a guy, yet you’ve spent half the time we were discussing the younger brother praising the sweet gentleness and manly bravado of the older one.” 

Amara’s cheeks darkened slightly.

“Donna, c’mon, I just think he’s a good guy who has been given a rough life.”

“And he’s probably rather attractive with a chiseled jaw and arms like bowling balls.”

“Well, he’s clearly strong, but his goodness really radiates from his eyes…” Amara trailed off for a moment before catching herself.  “Of course, that’s only if one likes that type of thing.”

“Eyes?  I’m a fan.” Donna said with a laugh as she glanced down at the security cameras inside the Hub.

“Jack’s out of his ‘conference’ with Ianto now, if you want to head down.”  Donna said with a mischievous grin. 

“Is that where he’s been all this time?  Ya know you could’ve let me go down then.”

“Nope, Jack said not to disturb them. And what kind of Super Secretary would I be if I ignored his request?” Donna picked up Amara’s tea cup.  “Besides, this way, I know about your new boy before he does.”

“He’s not my boy,” Amara said, rolling her eyes.

“Well, I expect a phone call the moment you realize that I’m right.”  Donna smiled, pressing a button and opening the door to Torchwood Three.

“Of course, Donna,” Amara leaned over and gave the woman a hug.  Ever since she had helped restore the woman’s memories, there had been an almost maternal relationship between the two.  Donna had seen Jenny, Amara’s sister, and helped the Doctor through that loss.  She’d watched the Doctor do incredible things and had still been able to call him to the carpet.  Kind of the way Amara imagined her mother probably did. 

Amara headed down into the Hub.  The large room always felt so real, so lived in.  The walls were faded; the comfy couch was falling apart.  The only room that looked starkly clean was the medical bay.  Owen had always kept it clinical in there, no matter what.  Amara still had trouble not thinking about him and Toshiko every time she entered the Hub.  The grief was getting better, but she still wasn’t certain she’d ever walk into the place without expecting Tosh’s soft voice and Owen’s gruff sarcasm.  Her morose thoughts were cut off as a Gwen Cooper-Williams entered the room.  While Uncle Jack adored Gwen, Amara privately thought that Torchwood would be better off without the former PC.

“Oh, hello, Amara.  I thought you were in America still.”

“Popped over for a bit of a visit,” Amara said, stiltedly. 

“Of course. Well Jack should be in his office and Ianto is around somewhere.” Gwen gestured around the room.

“I know.  Donna told me.”  Amara continued walking around the woman and knocked on Jack’s office door.

“Come in.”  Ianto’s voice answered.  Amara slipped through the door closing it behind her.

Captain Jack Harkness was a man who tended to hide his affection because of his unique circumstances, but ever since Owen and Tosh’s deaths that had all changed.  Although Ianto did seem to keep most of it out of the workplace.  Amara’s smile turned into a grin as she reached over to Ianto to straighten the tie on his ever present suit.  Today, the dress shirt was a deep purple that wholly complimented his skin and likely contributed to the earlier ‘conference.’

“The dark color suits you, Ianto.” Ianto blushed slightly and Amara laughed quickly before pulling him into a hug.  

She then turned to a chuckling Jack and pointed at his suspenders, which for some reason seemed to not only be loose, but twisted around as well. Jack’s silent laughter turned loud as he ignored the problem, released Ianto, and pulled Amara into a fierce hug.




“And what brings you to lovely Cardiff?  Did you miss your old uncle?  Or have you finally decided to give up the monster hunting and come work for me?”

“Nope, just missed Ianto.”  She smiled toward the Welshman.  “You know, Ianto, you ever get tired of this ridiculous man, I would love to travel with you.”  Amara batted her eyes coquettishly at Ianto.

“I’m afraid he’d be too lost without me.”

“So true,” Jack said, his feelings shining brightly out of his blue eyes.  Amara cleared her throat before Jack grabbed Ianto and exuberantly kissed him.




“I also need some advice from my former Time Agent, trained in psychic techniques uncle.”

“Uh-oh, I’ll get some coffee.  This sounds like a long conversation,” Ianto said.

“So basically, the younger brother’s body and soul were separated for about a year and a half.  When his soul was returned, they were able to put a wall up, but the wall is breaking down.  I don’t know if it was done intentionally or if the wall just can’t stand up to the intensity of the memories.” 

“So what makes you want to help this man?”

“Well, he and his older brother saved me a couple of times.  Plus, I was there the last time the wall started failing.  If you seen the look on D—the older brother’s face, you would have done everything you could to help as well.  The guy is in agony and all his brother can do is hold his hand and hope that in the end, it will all be okay.  The older brother, he’s…he reminds me of you and…of what you say Dad is like.”  He is giving, unselfish…even after all they’ve been through, and while I haven’t heard the full story, I do know their mom and dad were killed by a demon and even after helping to stop an almost-apocalypse, they keep fighting.  How is there anyone else more deserving?”  Amara’s passionate defense had surprised both the men.

“Okay, so how can I help?”  Jack said after exchanging looks with Ianto.

“I need to know how to go about this.  Other than the stuff you taught me to do with Donna, I’m at a loss as to how to help him.  I don’t know how to reintegrate his memories without making him go wonky.”

“Hmm, have you told Donna all this?”

 Amara nodded. 

“Okay, give us a few hours and Ianto can take you shopping. That okay, Ianto?”

“It would be my pleasure, Jack.”  Ianto smirked at Amara.

“So are we ready, Ianto, my boy?”  Amara asked.

“Certainly, my lady.”  He offered her his arm.  “Where to?”

“Somewhere expensive, because Jack is paying.”

 The two wandered Cardiff for most of the afternoon before Amara found what she wanted – a tight, dark green evening dress. It ended at mid-thigh, which made it ridiculously short, according to Ianto, and its color complemented Amara’s pale skin and ginger hair.

Ianto immediately started shaking his head.  Jack may be okay with everyone else’s sexuality, but the Doctor’s daughter was still a little girl to Jack.  Amara ignored her shopping partner and texted a picture of the dress to Donna, hoping for a more favorable response than Ianto’s prim refusals. When Donna replied with a resounding yes, Amara purchased the frock and Ianto hoped Jack wouldn’t kill anyone who dared to leer at the attractive young woman when she wore her revealing new dress.

After  making her purchases, Amara turned with a grin, “So that’s sorted.  Now, let’s grab a coffee and a gab.”

 The two settled into the coffee shop across the Plass from the tourist office. Ianto had been in the middle of a story involving Jack, Gwen, and himself racing down a cliff in the Torchwood SUV when he stopped mid-sentence, his finger going to the earpiece he always kept in his ear when he left the Hub.  After a moment, he responded, “Be right there.”  And with a nod to Amara, they crossed the Plass to the water tower and the invisible paving stone lift that led directly into the heart of Torchwood.

They met Jack and Donna already waiting in the conference room. 

“I sent Gwen home for the day.  I told her this was a family matter.  She assumed Ianto was already gone too,” Jack supplied once Amara had begun looking for the former PC. 

“Now, Jack and I think this will work,” Donna said, handing Amara several sheets of instructions and explanations.  “But it’s going to take a lot out of both of you so it’s going to have to be done in shifts over a few months.”

“You’ll need to let out a few memories, then give him several days to recover and you’ll likely have to stay in with him the whole time,” Jack said the concern evident in his voice.  “Donna and I have been talking and I think I should do this part.  I can withstand a lot.  I’ve been tortured, buried alive, burned, blown up, electrocuted…you can ground me and I can do the reliving part.”

“With me, that was the hardest part for you.” Donna pointed out to Amara.

“Donna, no offense, but that had little to do with anything except finally seeing my dad and finding out what happened to Mum.”  Amara stopped for a second.  “With Sa—this guy, it’s different.  He’s not going to trust you.  He doesn’t even trust me yet.  There’s honestly no way that any of you can do it.”

“Then, one of us needs to come with you to ground you.  You’re going to need someone there to pull you back once you’re done,” Donna said in a tone that left no room for discussion.

“Sorry, that’s not going to happen.  The older brother should be able to help me and if I bring anyone extra, they’ll never let me do it.  They already think I’m working with someone called Eve.  I can’t risk losing their trust. They are good guys and they can handle this,” Amara said deliberately.

“But they won’t know what the signs are or the first thing about being an anchor…”Jack trailed off.  “Let Ianto and me help.  It’s what we do.”

“Uncle Jack…I can do this.”

“No one’s saying _you_ can’t, sweetheart,” Donna said.  “We just don’t know these men at all.  Someone is going along.  You have the choice who, but I refuse to finish outlining what needs to be done until you agree to at least that much.”  Amara sighed heavily. 

“Let me call them and see what they say.”  Amara quickly punched Dean’s number into her phone and closed herself into Jack’s apartment.

“Hello,” his gruff voice came over the line.

“Hello, sweetie,” Amara said, purposely keeping her voice light. “So, how angry will Sam be if I have to bring someone back with me to help?  My…pseudo aunt has put her foot down.  Uncle Jack and Donna won’t help me come up with a workable strategy unless someone they trust is there to help me set it up and teach you some techniques to help me.” 

“Well, we can probably manage without the help.”

“Dean, I don’t want this either, but  this is my family.  Would you want Sam to go in to any situation without some trained back-up?”

“Well, no, not normally.”

“Exactly.  Donna or Jack is well trained enough. Although, I’m fairly certain Ianto would prefer I leave Jack out of it,” Amara said with a smile.

“Well, if this is dangerous…”

“Dean, it’s like walking into a dark forest and having no idea how to get back out.  Sometimes you can remember the trail correctly enough, but having someone there to sort of pull you back is…well good, especially considering how tired I’ll be. But Dean, if you and Sam aren’t comfortable with it, I can probably figure something out on my own.”

“No, Sammy and I have been talking…and his headaches are getting worse…I just don’t know that I want a lot of people traipsing through his mind.  We’ve been through a lot.”

“Well, my plan is to convince whoever comes with me to help train you.  I believe that you’ll be more help in your brother’s mind than anyone else.”  She could practically hear Dean and Sam exchanging looks, having one of those strange wordless conversations they seemed to excel at.

“Okay, umm, Donna’s the one who went through something similar, right?”  Dean asked, probably at Sam’s prompting.

“Yes.”

“Then, she’ll be fine.”

“Thank you, darling.  Talk to you when I’m back across the pond.”  And with that Amara disconnected the line.

“Donna can go.  The rest of you are not to set foot in America without letting me know first.  And Donna, I’m afraid I’m going to have to fill you in on a few more things myself…”  Amara had conveniently forgotten to mention what most of her hunting consisted of. It was going to be a long day.

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

“C’mon Donna,” Amara said pushing her way into the dingy motel room.   Donna followed slowly. She’d only been in the States all of an hour and she was already unimpressed.




“What we stayin’ here for?” Donna asked as she closed the door.  “I know you’ve the money for a nice place.”

“It’s easier this way.  It draws less attention and there are way fewer questions asked.”  Amara answered, quickly removing the grey dress she’d worn on the plane over.  She pulled on a pair of dark jeans and a corseted black top.

“Why…” Donna gestured to the clothes as Amara swept her long ginger hair into a messy ponytail.

“Because, hunting is…well, it can be a messy job and it’s not one for lovely dresses and ridiculously expensive heels.  Which reminds me,” she glanced at Donna’s feet, “you did bring your boots right?” 

Donna nodded and took that as a hint to change.  Donna had traveled in nice slacks and a business like button down shirt, but glancing at her pseudo niece she realized a change might be in order and donned a more adventure worthy outfit.  She pulled the gray top over her head and cinched up the large brown belt.  As she glanced in the mirror she couldn’t help but smile a bit sadly.

“What is it, Donna?”  Amara asked, watching the woman.

“It’s silly.  It’s just…the last time I wore this…was the last time I saw your father.” 

“Really?”

“Yeah, silly innit?” Donna said a bit brokenly.

“Not at all.  And you better believe that if I ever meet the old man, the first thing I’m doin’ is givin’ him a slap for you.”  Amara pulled the woman into a hug.

“Thanks, dearie, but I can handle myself and don’t you forget it, like your dad seems to.”

“No problem.  The boys are waiting for us a few rooms down.  Are you ready?”  Amara slipped the gray waist-length pea coat on and zipped up her leather-heeled boots.  Donna nodded slipping on her own familiar brown coat and the two headed toward the Winchesters. 

Amara had filled Donna in on all she could on the plane ride over, but as Donna asked questions Amara realized there were few answers she actually knew.  There were several things they’d have to pin down exactly to be able to do this right.  And Amara knew getting the boys to answer questions would be like pulling teeth.

Dean swiftly opened the door and indicated that the women could enter.  Donna hesitated at the threshold.

“Amara dear, there’s a-“

“It’s called a Devil’s Trap, Donna.  If you were possessed it would trap you.”  Amara said, stepping through and taking the silver knife from Dean’s hand and slicing herself with it.  “Silver knife, proves I’m not a shape shifter or a number of other things.” 

Donna came through the door and trap quickly, looking hesitantly at the blade as Amara took a cup from Sam. 

“Ah, and of course, holy water.  Useful against all sorts of nasties.”  Amara tipped the liquid down her throat.  “How refreshing.”  She smiled back at Donna.

“I promise, this is all very necessary, Donna. This is the basic hunters’ hello.” 

Donna looked down at the knife in Dean’s hand.  He’d cleaned Amara’s blood off it, but Donna could still see its grizzly residue. 

“I don’t know that I can do it myself.” Donna said, apologetically. “I’m not good with blood.  You do it.” Donna gestured to the older brother.  “Amara trusts you so…just let me close my eyes first.” 

Dean rolled his eyes and cut a small slice along the woman’s hand.  After a few moments, Donna hesitantly opened her eyes and reached for the cup of water, downing it quickly.

“Well, satisfied?”  Amara glanced at Sam as Dean was bandaging the small cut on Donna’s hand.  Sam nodded.

“Okay, then.  First off, what are you hunting?”

“Simple salt and burn.  We were gonna head out at dark to do the bones.”

“Brilliant, so we have a few hours to start talking and plotting?”  The guys nodded.  “And then, Donna dearie, you will see your first supernatural creature.  Just no whining about the guns.  I get enough of that from Jack.”

“Guns?  Really, you use guns?” Donna asked, slightly surprised.

“Of course we use guns,” Sam answered. “I thought you said they knew about the supernatural.”

“No, I said they hunt aliens.  And Donna doesn’t, she’s more like the secretary.  When she traveled with the…my Dad, she didn’t use violence because that’s not really his way.  He’s more about finding peaceful solution…or committing genocide.”  Amara smiled ruefully at her red-headed friend.

“Yeah, he doesn’t use weapons though.  He’s just clever.”  Donna smiled, thinking back to a certain Wasp escapade.

“However, in this business, weapons are a bit of a must.”  Amara said, pulling her own .45 out of Dean’s bag.  “Thanks for holding this by the way.  It’s a bitch to get through customs.”  Dean nodded.  The quartet stared at each other for a moment.

“Well, we should probably start outlining the plan,” Amara said, settling herself onto what had to be Dean’s bed as Sam’s things were scattered over the other one.

“But first,” Donna spoke sitting in the chair next to Amara, “we have to ask a few questions.  I understand you don’t trust me and that’s not what this is about.  We just need to know a few things to see how Amara needs to be grounded. Your flashes of hell, does their intensity increase or decrease the longer you’re there?”

“Increase,” both Sam and Dean responded together.  Donna and Amara glanced at each other sharply.

“How do you know that Dean?” Amara asked cautiously.  “You don’t experience the memories as well do you?”

“Well, not his, but I’ve had my own time in hell to relive.”  Dean said, trying to sound casual.

“You have what?” Amara asked, her voice rising.

“It’s a long story, okay, but suffice it to say I was in hell for like four months.”

Donna glanced at Amara with a small shrug.  Amara’s thoughts ran back to the folder in her room.  It sounded like Dean may not have escaped his deal after all.

“Well, at least we can test the intensity before we put you in there.”  Donna said, trying to think of a bright side to the situation.

“What do you mean?” Sam asked.

“Well, that was another thing we were trying to figure out.  See to help release the memories if you will, I’ll probably have to experience them with you.  The extra ‘brain power’ should help ease the memory.  You’ll share the experience which theoretically should help with the pain.  If Dean will let me, we can use a small memory of his to make sure that the pain won’t overwhelm me.”

“Absolutely not.” Dean spoke.  “There’s no way I’m putting anyone through that.”

“We didn’t know that part,” Sam spoke softly, looking toward the wall.  “I don’t know that I want anyone having to go through that to help me.”

“That’s the other reason for the anchor.  If it becomes too much for either of us, they can help pull us out of the memory,” Amara assured the men. 

“I don’t know that Dean’s memories would help all that much anyway,” Sam said after a moment.  “I was…that is we weren’t…”  He looked toward Dean as if asking for help.

“We weren’t exactly in the same neighborhood.  Sam was…a bit deeper in the Pit than I was.”  Dean hesitated. “And…we didn’t have the same landlord in our sections.  It’s sort of hard to explain.” 

“And even if you could explain it, you aren’t sure that you want to,” Amara surmised.  Dean nodded a bit uncomfortably.

“I meant what I said, I…we want to trust you. We’ve just been burned a lot.”

“It’s okay.  Why don’t Donna and I outline the plan and then we can explain what we need to know and why?  Then we’ll go hunting.”  Amara smiled widely.  “I love the easy black and white cases.  You are letting us come right?” 

After a quick glance at Sam, Dean nodded.

“Course, long as the civilian doesn’t get in the way,” he inclined his head to Donna. “No offense ma’am.”

“Ma’am!” Donna huffed.

“Best to just call her Donna,” Amara chuckled.  “Donna, honestly, that’s just Midwest hospitality.  I promise, that wasn’t his way of calling you old.” 

“Well, if you’re sure,” she said.  “Now, to the plan.” 

Amara and Donna spent the next couple of hours outlining the procedure for unlocking memories using Donna’s own example and explaining how the telepathy worked.  Finally, they explained the exact details they needed and why. 

“So basically, you need everything.  Length of time I was separated from my soul, how, and why.  Is the why really necessary?”  Sam asked.

“Yes.  I’m going to learn it once I’m with you anyway, but making sure there aren’t any nasty surprises that will leave me comatose would be best,” Amara assured.

“Wait, comatose?  Just how dangerous is this exactly?”  Dean’s voice sounded strangled.

“None at all if I was a trained telepath.  Unfortunately, those won’t be around for a quite some time.  But for us, since we’re mostly feeling our way through this, the possibility of my getting lost in your brother’s mind is very real.”

The boys exchanged a confused look at Amara’s explanation.  Dean fidgeted for a moment.

“We didn’t realize what this meant for you.” Sam said, slowly.  “All we’ve been thinking about…or rather I’ve been concerned with is what will happen to me.  The last thing I want is for someone to get hurt helping me.”

“Hence why I need to make sure Dean can actually be a good anchor to her.” Donna said, glad to see that both boys were concerned for Amara’s welfare.  “Mara here tends to be a bit forgetful of her own limits.  I need to make sure you’ll be willing to make her stop if she’s having too much difficulty.”

“Definitely,” Dean said with no hesitation.  “If we do this, we do our best to keep everyone healthy while we do it.”

“I think I’m going to like you,” Donna laughed. 

“Well, let’s see how you feel after you’ve had your first supernatural experience.” Sam said, motioning toward the window, where outside the sun was beginning to sink down below the horizon.

“Yes, salt and burn.” Amara double checked the clip on her gun.  “Time to get to it,” she said giddily. 

“What is up with you?” Sam asked.  “Aren’t you a bit too eager for this?”

“Uncle Jack doesn’t like to let me help out with his work.  He thinks it’s too dangerous,”  Amara explained as the quartet headed out the door and to the waiting Impala. “So I’m practically wrapped in padding when I’m there.  He knows that what I do is dangerous, but I choose not to tell him exactly how dangerous.  It’s sort of funny.  Whenever he thinks something big is coming in, he sends me off to the shops with his credit card.” 

Donna snorted loudly at Amara’s description of Jack.

“He thinks he throws you off by doing that,” she explained.  “Both Ianto and I have told him you are number one, his niece, and number two, your father’s daughter.  It will take more than a bit of retail therapy to fool you.”

“Yeah, but it keeps him happy and I know if they really need me, Ianto or you will let me know,” Amara said with a shrug.  “Jack sort of idolizes my father so; he tends to treat me as a fragile flower, even though he taught me half my moves.”

Dean chortled, bitterly.

“Sort of like us with Jo,” Sam said softly.

“I was thinking the opposite.  I wish we’d try to keep her out of it more.  Maybe then she’d still be here.”

Amara spoke, “Um, not that I know this Jo person, but for the record, Jack never really shuts me out. I just let him think he has because it keeps his focus on what he’s doing.  If a person wants to be involved in something, especially something like this, they will be.”

“I think all of us tend to do that to those we love.”  Donna pointed out.  “I always tried to protect Mum and Gramps from what I was up to with your Dad and what I do now at Torchwood.  Gwen always pushes Rhys out of the way.  The people we love, the ones we see as ours to protect, those are the ones we try to push away from danger.” 

Silence descended over the Impala, and Dean turned up the radio as Air Supply poured from the speakers until they pulled into the cemetery.

“So, how do we wanna do this?” Dean asked pulling his sawed off out of the trunk and tossing Sam a shovel.

“The three of us can take turns digging and doing recon, Donna can be lookout?” Sam suggested.  “That work for you, Donna?  And that means looking out for security guards as well as ghosts.”  Donna agreed.

“No problem,” Donna said taking the flashlight Amara was holding out and following Sam toward the grave. 

Between the three of them, it took next to no time to dig up the body.  Sam smashed open the casket as Donna screamed. Amara turned to see the ghost of the long dead local parish priest descending on Dean.  She immediately fired and then she and Dean were off distracting it and keeping it busy until Sam could get the bones burned.  Donna immediately jumped in to help, dumping salt into the box as Sam poured the lighter fluid onto the bones.

Amara tripped over a low gravestone and suddenly, the priest was on her.  Before the panic could set in, a salt round slammed into the insubstantial being and with a grateful look at Dean, Amara was back on her feet and back in the hunt.

Years of chasing weevils was finally paying off. After what seemed like hours of keeping that rhythm, the priest’s body went up in a flash of flame.  As the adrenaline wore off, Amara noticed a throbbing in her ankle and she hobbled toward Dean.

“That’s what you get for wearing those shoes,” Dean said rolling his eyes at the high heeled boots Amara favored for hunting.

“I’ll have you know I have hunted much worse things in these shoes…just not in this terrain,” she admitted sheepishly. 

“Want some help then?” Dean asked, smiling as she tried to walk normally.  Amara glared at Dean for a moment.

“Fine.  I know it’s really just because you can’t keep your hands off me,” she said with a wink.  For once Dean was the one rolling his eyes as he tossed Amara over his shoulder.  Her answering yelp brought a smirk to his face.  He patted her butt.

 “I still have a gun, Dean,” she reminded him.

“Just givin’ ya a helping hand, sweetheart,” Dean said with a loud laugh. God, it felt good to laugh.  It felt like something in his chest eased just a bit to laugh without worrying for a minute.  As long as that laugh lasted, there was no wall in Sam’s head, no Eve, just the pleasure of laughing with an attractive woman.  His smirk disappeared as Donna darted over, worried.

“Oi, Boy-Toy!  What did you do to her?”  the woman’s angry voice raised in pitch.

“I’m fine, Donna.  I just…tripped.”  Dean knew that Amara’s face was turning red.  And Donna burst out into relieved guffaws.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell Captain Jack that his prodigy hasn’t quite mastered the graceful walking bit.”  Dean set Amara down as Donna spoke.

“Just give me five minutes and I’ll be fine,” she promised the hunters and turned to Donna.  “Please don’t tell Jack, because he’ll tell Ianto and then I’ll get a pointed text message with ‘I told you so’ in big capital letters,” Amara pleaded. 

“Who’s Ianto?” Sam asked handing Dean the shovels. “Your boyfriend?”   Donna and Amara exchanged looks before giggling some more.




“He’s my uncle’s boyfriend.”  Amara chuckled.  “Although I did have him once.” 

Donna’s amusement suddenly stopped short.

“NO!  Oh this is gossip I have got to hear.  And why hasn’t himself told me about this?”

“If by himself, you mean Jack, he doesn’t know.  And Ianto is extremely private.  Plus, he’s sworn to secrecy.”  Amara smiled thinking of the couple back in Wales.  “Can you imagine what would happen if Jack ever found out?”  Donna’s laughter grew even louder as the image of Jack’s outraged face flew through her mind.

“If you ladies are through gossiping, who’s up for some pie?”  Dean said, smiling widely until his eyes crinkled.

“If you’ll let us clean up first,” Amara said as Dean helped her limp to the Impala.  “And maybe you should clean up a bit yourself,” she pretended to wrinkle her nose at the sweaty Dean.




“Yeah, last thing the waitress needs to see is four people covered in dust and grime ordering pie at midnight,” a slight smile crossed Sam’s face.  “Wouldn’t want another Buffalo now would we?” 

Dean’s eyes turned murderous.

“Buffalo?” Donna’s eyes lit up at the mischievous grin on Sam’s face.  He looked so much younger like that.  Donna already had a tendency to forget these men were only Amara’s age. 

“Let’s just say a waitress saw a bit of blood on Dean’s hand and my face, plus Dean had a gun his jacket.  Dean didn’t get his post hunt pie that night.”  Sam snorted at the memory of the waitress’s face as she tried to slip Sam a steak knife and had whispered that she’d call the cops.  After a quick laugh, the boys raced away. As Sam snickered, Dean grumbled, and Amara alternated between giggling and hobbling, Donna stood watched the group and things began to click together. 

When they’d been outlining their plan for Sam, Donna had noticed that occasionally one of the boys would get a far away look in their eyes.  It was simultaneously heartbreaking and hopeful.  It reminded her of the way the Doctor looked just before he left her that last time.  She hadn’t recognized it at that moment, but looking back she could see how hurt he was because he’d lost his best mate and yet, she went on living.  Dean and Sam had lost so much and just like the Doctor, they seemed to keep taking on more.  They couldn’t seem to escape from the ever present weight of responsibility.  And then, there were the bright moments, like right now, cruising down the highway in the Impala, windows down, music blaring from the speakers, and everyone smiling. 

Donna shook from her reverie as Amara nudged her. 

_Everything okay?_ Amara mouthed.  And Donna just nodded, because for this car full of people, tonight was a good night.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

****The next morning began the preparations for the “mind-meld” as Dean was beginning to call it. Donna took Dean to the other room, leaving Amara to talk to Sam.

“Are you certain you’re all right with me doing this?” Amara asked.

Sam hesitantly nodded, “I don’t have much of a choice to be honest.  Dean trusts you and that’s going to have to be good enough for me.”

“Well, Sam my lad, it’s not enough for me.  You’re going to have to be completely open and honest with me.  If you’re trying to hide things when I’m in your mind, it’ll only cause trouble.  I’m not saying I have to know every intimate detail of your life,” she reassured as Sam began to look nervous.  “What I’m saying is that I want you to be able to trust me, so while darling Donna works with Dean, you can ask me whatever you want about me and I’ll answer.  I can even provide references for most of it,” she smiled.  “Dean explained that you’d been lied to before and I don’t want that.” 

Sam grimaced. 

“What?”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but…you sort of remind me of Ruby.”  Sam said quietly, hoping his obnoxiously protective big brother had already filled Amara in on this part of the tale.

“Who’s Ruby?”

"Guess not then," Sam thought before explaining, "Ruby was...a demon...one I wound up trusting.  she gave me a similar speech to the one you just gave and she was lying for all of it.  At least she twisted it to be her own version of the truth."Sam glanced down at his hands.  "I chose to listen to her over Dean.  He could see that what she was--no, what I was doing, it wasn't good for me." 

“Well, you at least know I’m not a demon, Sam.  And I’m going to be honest; I probably know a bit more than you think I do.  I called a hunter buddy of mine to ask about you guys.”

Sam’s head jerked up.

“Hey I had to make sure I could trust you, same as you did me.  He knew you and Dean, said you were both trouble.”  Amara smiled at the memory of her conversation with Rufus.  “He let me know that Bobby Singer was asking after me as well.”

 Sam looked sheepishly down.

“I suppose it would be a bit hypocritical of me to be upset about you looking for info on us then, huh?”  Amara merely raised an eyebrow, Sam continued,  “Not that we got much.  All Bobby was told was that you’d been hunting for awhile and went back to Europe when the Apocalypse was happening.  He was still running the search when I last talked to him.”

“Yeah, my guy got me a bit more.  I know about your mom, Stanford, Jess, and your dad.”  Sam looked up sharply, but Amara didn’t miss a beat.  “After that we fall into a lot of rumors.  If I believe them all, you and your brother are either Supermen or a couple of Darkseids.”  She smiled, intending the comment to be a joke, but at the bleak look on Sam’s face she pressed on.  “I know that you may or may not have helped raise Lucifer, but I also know you helped put him out of business as well.  Am I right in assuming that’s how you were separated from your soul?” 

Sam nodded, “Sort of.  I was pulled out by something, we can’t figure out what.  Even Cas doesn’t know.”

“Cas?”

“Your source missed the fact that we’ve had an angel named Castiel on our shoulders?  Must not be as good as you thought.”

“Oh, knowing him, he may have known and just not told me.  Although I did promise him a bottle of Johnny Walker for the info.” 

Sam’s face took on a smile, “Your source wouldn’t happen to be Rufus Turner would it?”

“Ah, so you guys know about that preference too.  Yep.  He sent me the small file he has on you guys and told me to keep the Johnny Walker because I might need it after a week with you two.”

Sam rolled his eyes, “Yeah, somehow things with Rufus always tend to go sideways.  So how did you meet him anyway?”

“He’s the hunter who saved me and then, after months of begging, taught me to hunt.”  Amara laughed.  “He’s a stubborn ol’ bastard, isn’t he?”  Sam smiled, “I suppose if you won Rufus over, you can’t be all bad.”  He turned serious again.  “I’m just wary of easy fixes to our problems these days.”

“Oh Sam, I never said this was going to be easy.  So any other questions for me?”

“Why are you doing this?  What are you getting out of it?” 

Amara thought about it for a minute, “Well, the why…it’s fairly simple, I like helping people.  It’s what I was raised for.  I cannot see a person crying out in pain and not try to fix them.  I think it may be in my genetic code from the way everyone talks about my father.  As for what I expect to get out of it…the satisfaction of helping you save the world probably isn’t the answer you’re looking for. The truthful answer is that I love a challenge and I love learning.  I’ve never seen anything like this, not really.  But tangibly, I get nothing, Sam, except a new friend or two.”

Sam looked at her skeptically.  Amara began to think more introspectively and allowed herself to babble out her thoughts.

“Sam, someday I’m going to meet my father, the wonderful man that I’ve heard about since my birth and…I want to be worthy of him. I want him to look at me and be proud.  Everything I do is for him.” 

Sam thought back to his own parents, “My mom died when I was six months old.  I hope she would be proud of the men Dean and I have become…in fact I know she would.  I got to meet her once before I was born.”

 At Amara’s quizzical look, Sam responded, “Long story, but I promise, I’ll explain it later.  I guess what I’m saying is that, I understand trying to please your parent.  Dean was like that with our dad.  Dad said jump and Dean would be in the air before he asked how high.  I could never do that.  My last real conversation with my dad…we fought.”  He smiled softly.  “We always fought.  Dean always said it was because we were both too hard headed.” 

“Well, my mum, she’s quite a different sort from my dad.  She’s in prison for murder, actually.” 

Sam’s face took on a pointed look. 

“Oh it’s a very, very long and complicated story, but apparently she murdered my dad, only she didn’t. My mum has tried to explain it, but my gran keeps saying it’s very complicated.  And of course she’s right,” Amara smirked.  “My grandmum is all of 28 years old.” 

Sam’s surprised expression had Amara gasping with laughter. 

“You had me up until then.”

 “No, I’m quite serious.  I’ve never actually gotten to tell anyone about Gran’s age before.  Most people already know her or the story before they meet me.  I promise to explain the gist of what I know later.  But it involves time travel, alien planets, weddings, and fezzes.”

Sam laughed in spite of himself.

“Okay, I think this can work," he admitted.

“Then, let’s try an experiment.  Think of a happy memory, a time when you were the happiest you’ve ever been. Let me know when you’re ready.”

Sam nodded and thought for a moment, “Got it.” 

“Okay,” Amara placed her hands on Sam’s head and a moment later she was watching Sam dance with a beautiful blonde named Jess.

 Sam was reliving the moment; he was holding Jess’ hand, smelling her perfume.  He couldn’t contain the gasp as the memory shifted to later that night when he’d kissed her and she’d whispered “I love you” in his ear for the first time.  Amara pulled back slowly and Jess faded, but tears were falling from Sam’s eyes.

“Sorry about that,” Amara apologized, “but I had to show you. Emotions and feelings will come back quite strongly during this.”   

A bright smile graced Sam’s features, “Thank you.  I’d almost forgotten how beautiful she really was. You didn’t have to show me that though.”

“Sometimes, giving someone a bit of happiness makes me happy.  I’ll leave you to your memories for a bit and go grab some lunch.  It’s getting close to noon and I know how Dean gets if he misses his pie,” Amara stood and headed for the door, leaving a still smiling Sam on the motel bed. 

**********************

Amara returned an hour later, entering the room quietly.

“Sam?  I’m back.”

“He’s gone.”

Amara jumped as Dean’s voice came from behind her.  Dean snickered at the woman before pushing her into the room. 

“He and Donna decided to get out a bit.  When he heard Donna had never been to America before, he insisted that he at least take her on a day trip to Philly since we’re just an hour or so out from there.” 

“Ah, well then, I guess it’s just us.”  Amara smiled at the man.  “So, here’s your heart attack on a plate,” she handed Dean what appeared to be the greasiest cheeseburger he’d ever seen.  “My heart attack on a plate,” she put the same sandwich down in front of her.  “And their salads, which will be disgusting by the time they get back.” 

“Well, you are more than welcome to eat them then, because I don’t tend to eat grass.” Dean offered. 

Amara laughed, “If I do, I probably won’t have room for the dessert I brought back.” 

Dean paused in unwrapping his burger.  “Dessert?” His eyebrow arched in question and a smile spread across his face.  Amara pulled a small pan from the bottom of her bag of food.

“Is that…pie?”

“It might be.”  Amara smiled at the man. 

“Don’t tell Sammy, but you’re my favorite right now.”  Dean leaned past Amara to grab the pie and gave a long sniff.

“Apple?” he queried.  Amara nodded.

“But you probably should finish your burger first.” 

Dean sat back in his chair with humph. “I know.”  He took a savage bite from the burger in front of him.  After a moment of chewing he turned to Amara.  “So how long have you known Donna?”

“Oh, a couple of years.  She used to travel with my dad.”

“But you’ve never met your dad…”

“Yeah, I met her afterwards.  Something happened and Donna absorbed all my dad’s memories and as he’s somewhere over nine hundred years old it sort of…”

“Wait, your dad’s how old?”

“If you listen to him, a little over nine hundred, but since Donna actually has his memories, she’ll only admit he’s quite a bit older than that.”  Amara continued. “Anyway, my dear father decided he knew better than everyone else and wiped Donna’s memory of the two years she’d known him.  It was the only way to safely lock away the memories.  Or so he thought.”  Amara bristled remembering her father’s actions. “Donna actually begged him not to. She told him she’d rather die than go back to how she was before.  But he didn’t listen.  He just did what he wanted.” 

Dean reached over and touched her hand.  Amara calmed herself and went on.  “Don’t get me wrong.  My dad saves planets full of people and I already love him, but at the same time, I sort of want to slap him for Donna.”

“Well, she seems okay now…”

“Before she met my dad, she was a professional temp.  She didn’t care about anything beyond getting married.  She somehow missed several of the times my dad and his companions saved London.”

“Hold up, companions?”  Dean smirked. “What kind of man is your dad?” 

Amara laughed.

“I don’t believe I’ve ever heard anyone ask that before…except maybe my mom…or Donna.  Companions are just his name for the people he takes with him on his…travels.” Amara smiled.  “Anyway, what I mean is, I know my dad is a good man and someday when I meet him, he’ll hopefully be proud of all the good I’ve done, but I still may have to slap him one for what he did to Donna.  He just left her at home with her mum and granddad, hoping she’d be fine.”

“Sort of reminds me of my dad.  How much has Sam told you?”

“Not much.  Just that your dad and he liked to butt heads, but you weren’t a fan. You tended to just obey.”

“Yeah, that’s true.  See everything I’ve ever done was for Dad and Sammy.  I know that sounds pathetic, but ever since we were kids, I’ve always taken care of things.  Dad would go on his hunts and I’d take care of Sam. ” Dean stopped for a moment.  “Anyway, my point is, if your dad’s anything like mine, he’ll be proud of you. But he’ll never tell you and he’ll always expect you to help him.” 

Dean stopped again, as if listening to himself.  “I don’t know why I’m so bitter.  Sorry.  Truth is I always knew my dad loved me and Sam.  I’m sure yours will love you too.”   Dean leaned forward in his chair, placing his hand on Amara’s cheek. “And if he’s not proud of ya, Donna and I will kick his ass.” 

Amara struggled to speak for a moment. “Thank you, Dean,” she grasped his hand and their eyes locked onto one another.  Suddenly, Amara understood how Sam and Dean could understand each other with a glance without realizing.  Dean’s eyes practically screamed at her that he understood what it was to want approval and to be denied. 

“Now, chick flick moment over.  Gimme that pie, woman,” Dean said, wolfing down the last bite of his burger.  Amara playfully held the pie away from him.

“Ask nicely,” she said as Dean lunged for the small pan.

“Please, ma’am, may I have some pie?”  Dean put his best southern drawl on and Amara rolled her eyes before acquiescing. She cut a large portion of the pie for Dean and handed him the plate.

“Thanks,” Dean said, leaning over to take it and brushing his lips against hers.

They both froze, Dean’s lips hovering a few centimeters from hers.  His pie slipped to the table forgotten. 

After a moment’s hesitation Amara closed the distance again.  Lips on lips.  It was almost shy for a moment before Amara let her tongue flick against Dean’s lips.  He let out a soft moan and the kiss grew deeper for a moment before Dean was pulling back.

“I’m…that was…”  Dean started.

“An accident,” Amara finished for him.

“Don’t say it like I slipped and your lips broke my fall,” Dean admonished.  “I just…it was a flashback, a routine at first.”

“Routine?”  She ignored the ‘at first.’

“Yeah, up until a few months ago, I’d been living with my girlfriend Lisa and her son Ben.  For a second, the whole domestic pie thing threw me back.  We had pie at her place and I’d give her a peck.”  Dean looked lost and confused as he thought back to those stolen moments.  Hunters don’t get those moments. He had to forget them. 

Amara seemed to sense the change in atmosphere. “No worries, it never happened.  Care to tell me about this Lisa?”

And Dean did.  He talked about how he’d gotten to play at being a real family.  How much he loved going to Ben’s soccer games, teaching him about cars, taking care of the lawn for Lisa, and most of all how much he hadn’t really fit.  Finally, he told Amara how Lisa had broken things off when he’d almost hit her son while he was a vampire.

“Wasn’t her fault.  It was bound to happen.  Hunters like us… we don’t get happy endings.”  Dean took a pull of beer and the two lapsed into silence.  “Wanna see if there’s a movie on or something?” 

Amara nodded and the two moved toward the TV where they found a _Dr. Sexy, M.D._ marathon which kept them pleasantly occupied until Sam and Donna returned, Donna laden with gifts for her grandfather Wilf and her mother Sylvia. 

A few minutes later, Bobby called about a vamp nest a few miles away.

***************  
**

Days later, Amara entered the motel room, pulling off her blood covered shirt the moment the door was closed.

“That’s it.  Next time one of them can be the bait for the vampire. They’re pretty enough,” she said, pulling a wash cloth down and beginning to scrub the blood off her face. 

Amara turned to face Donna who instead of answering seemed to be staring at Amara’s torso.  She glanced down to see what was wrong.  She knew that there were a couple of scratches on her neck, but the boys had promised they weren’t bad. What was Donna looking at?

“Where did you get that?”  Donna pointed a shaky hand at a rather old scar that stretched across Amara’s side to her bellybutton. 

“Oh,” Amara stopped short for a moment.  “I actually almost forgot about that.  It was my first real case, something called a Rugaru.  They are people who essentially change into cannibalistic creatures.  They’re pretty fast and really strong.  I… I was a bit too slow.  Luckily Rufus was there.  He torched the thing and stitched me up.  No problem.  It honestly looks a lot worse than it was.”  Amara tried to placate the woman who seemed on the verge of panicking. “I’m fine, really.”

“How many other times have you been that close to dying?  How many more scars are there on you? Would this Rufus have even known who to call if you’d died?” Donna asked in a rush.  “And most importantly, does Jack realize you’ve been this close to dying?”

“Okay, first of all, Donna, this is just as dangerous as hunting Weevils back home.  All it takes is one mistake, one slip up to end it all.  That’s part of why Rufus trained me as hard as he did.  You have to be damn good in order to last very long.  Secondly, yes, Rufus would have known to call Jack.  We had that conversation before we ever started hunting.  Something happens to me, Rufus is the emergency contact and he calls Jack once he investigates it.  And finally, no, Uncle Jack has no idea about this.” 

Donna sat down rather heavily on the bed she was next to. 

“And he can’t ever know, Donna.  You see me as an adult for the most part, right?”

“Well, sort of. I mean you’re _his_ daughter, so some part of me won’t ever believe you can look after yourself, but I know you can make your own choices if that’s what you’re getting at.”

“Exactly.  Whereas Jack…he still has the picture of the two of us at my thirteenth birthday on his desk.  He carries my school photo in his wallet, Donna.  To him, I’m still the little girl River Song dropped off twenty five years ago.  I mean, don’t get me wrong, he gets that I can go off on my own, but…when I’m in danger…”

“His common sense seems to take flight?” Donna offered.  “Yeah, Ianto may have mentioned something about that to me.”

“Not too long after Tosh and Owen died, Torchwood had to investigate some energy fluctuations that originated in India.  This was just before everything that happened with you and Dad.  Well, PC Davison, Rhys, and I volunteered to keep an eye on the Rift and I promised to keep an eye on Rhys and Andy as well.  The mission was a success and we didn’t have much trouble for the most part.  On the day they were coming back, there was a Rift alarm.  It didn’t seem like anything major so Rhys and I volunteered to go check it out so Andy could go home early for a family thing. 

“It turned out to be a simple find and recover…so we thought.  It seemed to be a simple box.  I didn’t take all of the typical precautions because I was anxious to get back and meet Jack, so the box broke open.  The next thing I remember is waking up in the infirmary three days later with a hell of a headache.  Ianto told me later that it was a plant that basically released a stunning knockout powder as a defense, but Jack, he was furious.  He screamed at Rhys when he brought me in.  And I didn’t seem to be breathing, and Jack didn’t think both my hearts were beating.  It was…well, Jack thought I was dying.”

“But wouldn’t you just regenerate?”

“We don’t know.”  Amara shrugged.  “Mum could and of course, Dad can, but with the way Mum was changed throughout the Silence’s hold on her, we can’t be sure.  I personally hope so, but one never really knows.  Anyway, Jack called in Martha and by the time I woke up, Jack was a bit…calmer, but he tried to forbid me from going into the field again.  We had a huge blowout and two days later, I flew back to America.  Obviously we’ve made up since then.  That was a couple of years ago, I guess.  But that’s why I’ve never told him about this.  He’d probably fly over, sedate me and drag me back to a cell in the Hub until I’m over a hundred or Mum showed up.” 

Amara plopped herself down next to Donna as the woman processed the story silently.

 Jack had always seemed a bit over protective of Amara, Donna thought.  “All right. I’ll keep this to myself for now.  But someday, you should really tell him.”

“You’ve seen me in action, Donna.  I’m good.  That may sound cocky or egotistical, but I am.  We both know that saving people is what Dad does and Mum hunts things.  I just combine the two.”

Donna smiled sadly. “That’s what Dean says about this job too.  When we were working together yesterday, he explained that what he and Sam do is the family business.  Suppose it’s the same thing for you as well.   I just never thought of it that way before.”  Donna smiled at the woman next to her. “So, will Dean and Sam be up for some practice tomorrow?”

“I think Dean will.  Sam and I may lay off.  There’s really not much more for me to do with him until we’re ready to start the hard bit.  I’ve gotten him use to me poking around his head; all that’s left is to start the process of retrieving his memories.”

“Well, I think we could start that tomorrow.  Dean has a grasp on finding his safe place and he’s a natural anchor.  If he sort of observes tomorrow, then I should be able to head home within a week.”

“You’re certain Dean’s ready?”

“I think if you give us one more day, he will be.”  Donna said, thinking about the progress Dean had made.  “Now, why don’t you put some clothes on, you hussy?  Finish cleaning the blood off your face and we’ll go call on the gentlemen.”

“No need, they’ll be here in a few minutes with a pizza,” Amara said, jumping up to finish cleaning the hunting gore off of her.  The boys arrived soon after and were rather enthusiastic about finally being able to begin the process of fixing Sam.  While the group strategized and scarfed the extra large supreme pizza, it was decided Sam and Amara would troll for new cases while Dean had his last lesson on centering and anchoring.

*********************

Dean settled down across from Donna.

“Okay Dean, just like we practiced, find your safe place,” Donna instructed.

Dean’s mind immediately called up his ideal image of a reliable refuge.  His first choice had been the house in Lawrence, but Donna had almost immediately told him to pick something else. 

“There are too many emotions here, Dean.  You don’t feel safe here, you feel scared, happy, sad, and a myriad of other things, but never safe.” 

Next had been Lisa and Ben’s house, but once again the complex emotions of the place made it impossible to work with.  Then, he’d almost been there with Bobby’s living room and the panic room, but eventually Crowley would spring to mind and he’d lose that feeling of safety.  That had left only one real place, the Impala.  So there Dean sat in his beloved car, with a soft Zeppelin soundtrack playing.

“Perfect.  Now, find me.”

Dean used the car to shift into Donna’s mind.  He quickly found her with her grandfather on a hillside.

“Very good, Dean.  Now let’s see if you can get me out of here.  Then, we’ll make Amara help us.” 

Dean quickly reversed the car out of Donna’s mind, stopping when he’d reached what looked to him to be the edge of the road before Bobby’s place. 

“This is my stop.” Donna said.

Dean pulled into Bobby’s driveway and Donna disappeared.  Dean opened his eyes a few seconds later.

“You’re getting rather talented at that.” 

“What can I say?  I’m a quick study.”  Dean smirked at her.

“It’s actually rather interesting.  I would never have thought to use a car, but for this process, it works so well.  Now, let me grab Amara, you need to get used to helping pull her out.”

Soon Amara was seated with Dean and Dean could sort of follow her trail.  She’d left a sort of glowing path in her wake and Dean had easily followed it.  In no time at all, Dean was visualizing driving Amara back into her own mind, which sort of resembled a large hole in the ground.

“That was really good, Dean.  You are a natural,” Amara said, slightly amazed.

“Did you not believe me?” Donna asked in mock annoyance.

“Of course, just he’s almost as good as Ianto is and Jack’s been teaching him for ages.”

“Well, I don’t distract Dean nearly as much as Jack does Ianto,” Donna said with a laugh.  It was a well known fact in Torchwood that when Jack and Ianto went to ‘train’ in anything, whether it be handguns or psychic centering, that when the two resurfaced there would be rumpled clothing involved.

“Don’t be so sure, Donna,” Dean said with a wink.

“Oh, Boy Toy, if I were a few years younger.”

“I don’t mind if you don’t.”  

Donna slapped him on the arm. “That’s quite enough of that.  I’m old enough to be…well you’re older sister.”

Dean laughed loudly.

“Or his young aunt.”  Amara offered.

 The trio made its way back to Sam to get started.  As Dean would mostly be observing this time, Amara and Donna supposed there wouldn’t be any problem in beginning the first mind-meld. It went rather easily with Donna walking Dean through what she was doing while Amara and Sam focused on unlocking one of his first memories. 

Sam stood outside a window watching Dean eat dinner with Lisa and Ben before walking back down the road and finding a rather easy salt and burn case.  It was an easy memory all in all, although Sam couldn’t believe he hadn’t told Dean he was okay.  Once the session ended, Sam slept the rest of the afternoon. 

Two days later, Donna headed back to Wales, Amara headed to see Rufus, and Sam and Dean headed to a case that wound up having something to do with mannequins.


	7. Chapter 7

 

**Chapter 7**

Dean didn’t know why he found his fingers dialing Amara’s number as he drove away from Lisa’s home. He just knew he didn’t really care to stop them.  Amara picked up on the first ring.

“Hello?”

“Hey ‘Mara.”  Dean couldn’t even pretend his voice sounded steady.

“Dean?  What’s wrong?”

“Well, Ben’s been calling me for the past few days. Said something was wrong with Lisa.  She’d locked herself in her room.”

“Oh God, is everything okay?”  Ever since that first conversation about Lisa and Ben, Dean had let more and more little details slip about his year of apple pie life.  Nothing big, but Amara had begun to see how much he loved Ben and Lisa.

“Yeah, yeah, they’re fine.”  Dean found he was pleased by the worried tone in Amara’s voice.  “I just interrupted Lisa getting ready for a date.”

“So Ben lied?  But a date isn’t the end of the world.”

“According to him, it was the third one and he watches TV so he knows what that means,” Dean smiled in spite of his feelings. 

“Precocious boy, Winchester.”

“Amara, he…he accused me of abandoning my family.”

“And are you?”

“I’m trying to protect them,” Dean’s voice turned toward irritation.  How many times was he going to have to explain that tonight? “The last thing they need is someone like me around.”

“Dean, don’t say that.”

“And the damndest part of the whole thing is part of me knows Ben is right.  He and Lisa…they became my family.  Sam and Cas were gone and Bobby was hunting.  They became my world and now…now I’m back to the same shit, different year.  And I’m doing exactly what my dad did to them.”  A tear streaked down Dean’s cheek. 

“Dean, pull over.”

“No, Sam needs help with this case and…”

“And it won’t help if you wreck. Pull over now.” 

Dean obeyed. “Alright, fine.”

“Now, listen good Dean Winchester, you are not your father.  You are not abandoning anybody. Ben has his mother.  Lisa broke it off with you, right?” 

Dean nodded before remembering Amara couldn’t see him. “Right.”

“Then, why the bloody hell didn’t she tell Ben that?”

“Probably because the last time I saw Ben I threw him against a wall.”

“To save his life,” Amara huffed.  “Dean, sometimes being an adult means making the shite decision because you should.  Sometimes loving someone means saying goodbye.”

“And who taught you that?”

“My grand mum, actually.”   Silence hung in the air for a moment.

“I do love them.”

“I know, Dean.”

“Ben’s…he’s awesome, but he’s so much like me.  The last thing I want for him is this, this life, hunting.”

“Mum and I have had this conversation before,” Amara’s voice took on a melancholy tone.  “Sometimes it doesn’t matter what you want for your kids, it matters what they want.  If Ben wants to become a hunter someday, he will.”

“Did I ever tell you my Mom’s family were hunters?”

“No,” Amara said, surprised. “You said your dad was largely self-taught.”

“He didn’t go into it until Mom died.  But she told me once that hunting was never the life she’d wanted her kids to have.”

“Dean, she died when you were four, how?”

“Next time I see you, you’ll get the story.”

“Lovely. Story time with Sam and Dean Winchester.”

“Just don’t expect a happy ending,” Dean’s bit out.

“Well, your story’s not over yet,”  Amara tried to be positive.

“One can hope,” Dean countered bitterly.

“Dean, please don’t talk like that.” 

Dean ran his hand across his face, wiping the salty lines of water away. 

“I gotta get back on the road,” his voice came out gruff and harsh.

“I know. I’ll see you soon, Dean.” 

The call ended and Dean pulled back out onto the blacktop toward New Jersey.  He had a brother to save after all.

***********

“So I heard back about your girl,” Bobby said as the boys walked through the door of his study.  They’d finally wrapped up the case with the mannequin ghost woman and had come back to see what news Bobby had on the Eve front.  Plus, Dean needed to fix his baby after it had been possessed and crashed into a building.

“And?” Dean asks.

“And Amara’s story checks out.  She’s either exactly what she says…or she’s got the best fake records in existence. ”

“Probably both,” Sam said, tension easing out of his body.

“Probably, but her records aren’t faked any demonic way I know.”

“So she’s clear then?” Dean asked.  Bobby nodded.

“When are we seeing her again?” Sam asked, part of him anxious to get through the next session of memory retrieval.

“We should probably give her a call.  Would you have problem with her meeting us here?” Dean asked.  “It might be easier to do this where we feel at home.” 

“I suppose if she passes Rufus’s tests who am I to argue?” the old man shrugged.  “But if we get many more people here, I’m gonna start chargin’ rent.”

“It should just be Amara,” Dean reassured the self-proclaimed hermit before dialing the frequently called number on his newest burn phone.

“Hello?”

“Amara, its Dean.”

“I assumed as much.  Somehow I don’t think Lars Ulrich has my number,” Amara laughed. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. We were just wondering when you wanted to meet next to mind-meld with Sasquatch.”

“Anytime.  I just wrapped up a case for Rufus, so I’m free whenever.”

“We’re at our friend Bobby Singer’s place.  We thought you might want to meet him,” Dean offered.

“I’d love to.”

“Great, well we’ll see you soon.”  Dean was preparing to hang up when Amara’s voice stopped him.

“Dean sweetie, where am I going?  I have no idea where Bobby’s is.” 

Dean laughed and quickly relayed the directions to Amara.  A day later, her rental car pulled into Bobby’s yard.

Dean was out the door before Amara had shut off the engine.  He dashed over to her like a little boy.

“Something I should know about Dean and this girl?” Bobby asked Sam. 

Sam for his part looked almost as baffled as Bobby. “I didn’t think so, but…well, I think that sort of speaks for itself.”

Dean had stood waiting impatiently for Amara to exit the car.  When she finally had, he reached for something behind her, probably her bag.   Sam watched as Amara laughed and shook her head, holding out her arms.  Dean pulled her into a quick hug, followed by a momentary glance back at Bobby and Sam, as if he thought they might not notice. After the huh, Amara pulled a package out of her car and handed it to Dean.

Sam and Bobby’s puzzled minds cleared when they heard Dean shout, “PIE!” and race back to the porch with said pie in hand.  Amara pulled her duffel out of the car and followed.

“Amara, this is Bobby Singer.  Bobby, Amara Song,” Sam said, gesturing between the two as Dean barreled into the house.

“I’ve heard a lot about you, Bobby,” she smiled.

“If Rufus said it, it ain’t true.”

Sam chuckled.

“He just mentioned that he owed you,” Amara assured

“We’ve saved each other’s skin so many times; I’m not sure who owes who anymore.” Bobby said, ushering Amara toward his house.

“Oh, so you don’t want the bottle of scotch he sent to thank you for that Okami business awhile back?” 

Bobby quickly snatched the alcohol out of the woman’s hand. “Now, let’s not be hasty, here.” 

 Amara entered the house, taking in the clutter over practically every spare space.

“Wow, I think you’ve got more research material than even Rufus does.”

“Most of his he got from me, second-hand,” Bobby said, proud of the collection of crazy and forgotten tomes. 

“My friend Ianto would love to go through some of this stuff.  He’s been reading a lot of supernaturally inclined books lately, so whenever I’m home, we discuss what lore is true.  He loves it.”

“And how does your Uncle Jack feel about that?” Dean asked, mouth full of pie.

“He hates it.”  Amara turned back to Bobby and put on her most charming smile. “It’s a lovely home. Where shall I put my things?”

“There’s a room right up at the top of the stairs that should be perfect for you.”

“Hey, if there’s a perfectly good room upstairs, how come I’m always on the couch?” Dean asked.

“Cause you’ve never asked where to go, ya idjit.  You tend to just bed down wherever you feel like,” Bobby shrugged. “So I let ya.” 

Amara made her way up the stairs and stowed her things quickly.

“Are there other rooms available, Bobby?” Amara asked.  “Sam will need a proper bed for this and if you and I have the only two, I don’t mind roughing it on the floor.” 

“Naw, there’s one more room.  The wife and I always meant to turn it into a nursery…but that never worked out.”  Bobby’s eyes got misty for a moment before he harrumphed on.  “There should be a bed though. Give me a few minutes to tidy it.”

“I’ll help, Bobby. If I’m gonna wind up comatose there, I might as well do the work,”  Sam followed the older man up the stairs.

“Good pie, Dean?” Amara asked turning toward the man who was firmly esconced at the table with his pie.

Dean gave her a wide smile.  “Yep, almost as good as the last one you brought me.” 

Amara smirked, "That one was pretty good.  I enjoyed it quite a lot.”  When she winked at Dean, his cheeks colored briefly.

“What can I say?  I’ve never had complaints.” Dean recovered.

“Perhaps, I’ll get an equally pleasant dessert this evening,” Amara needled. 

“I…uh, that is…” Dean found himself rubbing the back of his neck before glancing up at Amara and realizing she was teasing.  “Maybe you will, sugar.”

“Cause I’m sweet?” Amara said with a faux giggle.

“No, cause you provide the sugar.” 

Amara raised an eyebrow. 

“I mean the dessert,” Dean fumbled.

 And there came her smirk.

“I mean the pie.” Dean finished, tossing his fork down.  Sam and Bobby heard Amara’s laughter all the way in the back of the house.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Amara pulled back, her mind gently letting go of Sam’s and her hands dropping tiredly to her side.  This particular set of memories had been a bit rougher and Amara felt herself being lowered into a chair before she even registered Dean’s soothing voice in her ear.

“S’alright, I’ve gotcha.”

 She smiled wanly up at him. “Thanks, sweetie.”

“Welcome, sugar.”

 Amara gave a faux glare at her new nickname.  “Is that really going to be a thing now?”

“Quite possibly,” He grinned goofily at her for a moment before his gaze slid back to his brother and his frown lines set back in.  “How was it?”

“Rough.  I told him I’d fill you in.  But we should probably go downstairs and tell Bobby at the same time, if that’s okay.  I’m a bit tired.”

 Dean nodded.  He could feel the weariness in his own limbs and all he’d done was provide back-up.  They headed down to the kitchen where Bobby was waiting like the worried father he was.  Amara sat at the table as the younger hunter poured her a cup of coffee.  She grimaced slightly as the bitter drink ran down her throat, thinking lovingly of Ianto’s brew back home.  After a moment, she cleared her throat and began.

“Last time, we covered a little less than a week in Sam’s life and it went fairly well.  So this time, Sam wanted to push farther.  I didn’t see any reason to say no.  We covered his meeting with a man I believe he called Samuel.”  She looked up at Dean.

“Yeah, he’s our grandfather,” Dean almost spat the word, “if you can call someone who sells his grandsons out to demons a grandfather.”

 Amara winced, “Sorry.  Anyway, the memories weren’t particularly jarring until we reached the end.  Then we came across a demon who had taken a woman hostage. Sam killed the woman to take out the demon.  It shook Sam up pretty badly.  His psyche is having some trouble with the memory because it’s so far outside of something Sam would do, not to mention it was traumatizing for Sam to see himself that way. My guess is he’ll probably sleep at least a day, maybe two.  That memory was at the end of two weeks so his mind has quite a bit to contend with at the moment.”

“That was Sam?” Bobby asked shocked. “I heard about a hunter who everyone thought had gone off the rails, but it never occurred to me that it would be Sam.”

“Of course not, Bobby,” Dean said defensively.  “Sammy would never do that.”

“And it wasn’t really Sam.  Without his soul, he had no remorse or feelings of any kind about what he was doing. Killing creatures was what he knew so he did it,”  Amara shrugged.

“Well, if that one was rough, you better be prepared for some of his last ones,” Bobby warned.

“Why?” Amara furrowed her brow.

“Sam tried to kill Bobby.” Dean said gruffly.

“He did wha--? But he knew how wrong that was.  Why would he--?”

“Because a truly heinous act would cause his soul to reject his body.  So killing his paternal authority would be the ultimate blight on him,” Bobby spoke quietly.

“Why didn’t Sam want his soul back?  I would think it would be easier to do certain parts of the job with one.  I mean he noticed that the soulless him has absolutely no instincts when it comes to reading people.  He’s more brute force and while our Sam felt uneasy with Samuel, he could tell that soulless Sam just saw him as family and therefore trustworthy.”

“Cas thought that Sam might go insane if his soul went back in, but I had to take the risk,” Dean admitted quietly, pouring himself a shot of whiskey.  “He wasn’t my brother without it.”  His misery filled eyes looked up and held Amara’s, willing her to understand.  He didn’t want his brother to be in pain, but…he wanted him to be his brother.  Amara nodded, touching his hand lightly.

“I get it, Dean.”  She headed back toward the stairs.  “Now, I’m going to catch a kip upstairs for a bit before I go check on Sam.”

“Catch a…huh?”

“Take a nap,” Amara supplied with a shake of her head and a roll of her eyes.

************

Dean sat next to his baby brother’s bed, watching his chest rise and fall.  When Amara entered the room, she couldn’t help but notice the tear streaks along his cheeks.

“Hey,” she said quietly, not wanting to scare the hunter.  “He’s going to be fine, Dean, I swear.”  Amara’s hand came to rest on Dean’s shoulder.

“I know,” Dean answered voice a bit husky with emotion.  “Sammy’s the only blood family I have left though.  He’s been my only family for so long.  When Dad would leave us for days…weeks, sometimes even months at a time, it was always my job to look after Sammy, protect Sammy, take care of Sammy…”

 “And you don’t know if you can ever stop,”  Amara finished, squeezing his shoulder.  She took a deep breath as she lowered herself onto Sam’s bed.  She briefly touched Sam’s head to check on him, but he was still fine.

 “You know I’ve never met my father.  He doesn’t even know I exist.  All I’ve ever had was Jack and occasionally my mum.  She left me with Jack when I was a baby.  I didn’t see her again until I was…almost ten.  That’s how Mum is.  She will suddenly show up and take me on adventures and then disappear for years at a time.  All I’ve ever had to depend on was Jack and a few days after I turned eighteen, he shipped me off to the States.”

She reached over and took Dean’s hand.  “The bond between you two, it’s fantastic, if a bit unhealthy.  I wish I had someone who cared for me like you do for Sam.  So would most people.”

Sam groaned and Amara quickly released Dean to connect with Sam. 

“Your brother is a most stubborn man,” she said a few moments later.  “He was scratching at the wall.  His curiosity is almost insatiable.”  Her accent was thicker as she stared forward unseeing. “Sam, leave that alone for now.  I’ll help you take care of it.  I promise.” 

Sam settled back down and Amara retook her position across from Dean.

“The bond between Sam and me is scary, Amara.  It’s the real reason Lisa broke up with me,” he said quietly.  Amara cocked her head.

“But I thought it was because of Ben…”

“No, it was because I’m too attached to my brother.  If he hadn’t come back, Lisa would have kept trying.  She told me so.”  His eyes were brimming as he spoke.  “And the worst part is, I can’t blame him.  All I can do is hold onto him even tighter.  It’s…that year when he wasn’t around, it was hard.  I tried to fill his place with worrying about Ben and Lisa, but…I couldn’t.  And it was the only damn thing he asked of me and I was failing.”

“Who asked you?”

“Sam, before he went to hell.  We…well we knew it was coming.  We told you that he was the vessel for Lucifer before?”  She confirmed his question with a nod. “His saying yes was the plan and as we drove to Detroit, he begged me to get out of hunting and go live a normal life with Lisa and Ben.”

“If he hadn’t asked you…”

 “I would’ve partnered up with Bobby for a bit, and then kept hunting.”  Dean smiled.  “I did love it though.  Having a home to go back to, a place where I was safe and it wasn’t a sleazy motel room at the ass end of nowhere.  I even liked having a real job to pay my bills. I’m not a thief by nature.  I just…”

“We all do what it takes to survive.”  Amara touched her hand to his cheek. “For some of us, that means taking trips to Cardiff every few months and for others, it means a few credit scams here and there.”

“I’m sorry…about your mom,” Dean offered.  “It must suck…to have a parent choose to leave.”

“She loves me, Dean.  She just…she did what she thought she had to do.”  Amara stood to pace. “It’s a bit complicated, but she knew my dad wasn’t going to be in the area for awhile and she had met Jack once before and believed he was trustworthy…”

“So she just ditched you there and left.”

“Well, she did break out of a high security alien prison to do it,”  Amara said with a slight smile.

“Your mom’s a convict?”

“Yes.  She’s supposed to serve…I think it’s like twelve-thousand life sentences or so.  But, she’s actually innocent, so she tends to break out often.”

“Well, now the disappearing for years thing makes sense. But why is she in an alien prison?  I thought you said she was from Earth.”

“What I actually said was she was human.  Her parents are human, but she wasn’t born on Earth.  My grand mum was kidnapped by aliens when she was pregnant.” 

Dean raised an eyebrow. 

“Long, complicated story, but all true.” 

“Still seems to me, she could’ve been around more.”

“And she could’ve,”  Amara nodded in agreement.  “I don’t hold it against her, but my mum is the adventurous type and it’s a bit hard to fly off in the middle of the night if there are nappies to change. The only reason I brought my family up was point out that Uncle Jack is more of a parent to me than my own mum.  Just like Bobby is with you guys.” 

Dean took her hand and stood. “I know.  And I hate to admit it, but most of the time; I think he probably did a better job of raising us than Dad did.”  He turned a full tilt smile up at her and ushered her downstairs.  “So, how many planets have you been to?” 

Amara began counting them up in her head as she walked--Midnight, Raxacoricofallapatorius, Klom, Vegas 12--but before she could actually answer a man in a dirty trench coat appeared at the bottom of the steps.

“Cas, long time no see,”  Dean inclined his head in greeting as he and Amara reached the landing.  “Amara, this is our friend Castiel, Angel of the Lord.  Cas, this is Amara Song.”

“You are not human,” Cas said, head tilting to one side, quizzically.

“Manners, Cas.  I know your people skills are rusty, but damn.”  Cas began to speak again, but Dean cut him off. “And we know she’s not 100% human.  Amara’s been nothing but honest with us.  She’s never tried to hide it.” 

Cas seemed to deflate. “Oh, my apologies,” the angel said, holding out his hand. “It is pleasant to meet you.”

“And you, Castiel.” 

“How do you know her, Dean?” Castiel asked, still staring at Amara, unwilling to trust this newcomer.

“She’s a hunter.  We have had her thoroughly checked out, Cas.  Cool it,” Dean reassured. 

“Besides, I’m only half-alien,” she pointed out trying to ease the angel away from her father.  The fewer creatures who knew that the last of the Time Lords still roamed the galaxy the better.  “I’ve never even met him.  But I am from Cardiff, so…”

“Ah, that would explain the odd energy patterns,”  Castiel concluded.

“Huh?” Dean’s face had taken on a puzzled look. “Why does it matter where she’s from?”

“Her body is saturated with energy that only appears on those who travel through space and time,”  Castiel said as if that explained everything.

“And that means?”

“There’s a Rift through time and space running right below Cardiff.  It’s impossible to live there without having the residue of it all over you,” Amara explained.

“Rift running where?”

“It’s like a crack that runs through time and space and sometimes stuff gets pulled through.  Mostly junk, but occasionally people and such as well.”  Amara shrugged.  “That’s what Uncle Jack’s team takes care of.”

“Jack Harkness?”  Castiel asked with a raised eyebrow.  “I’ve heard a brother of mine speak about him once.”

“He helped out my mum by looking after me when she was away.”  Amara said, hesitantly.  Castiel accepted her answer and turned back to Dean.

“Castiel?” Bobby’s surprised voice came from the kitchen.  “What the hell are you doin’ here?”

“I came to ask if you could do some research.  I believe I have found another heavenly weapon, but I don’t currently have time to decipher which of my leads is correct.  I am still looking for reference material on Eve as well,”  Castiel confirmed.  “However, I’ve suffered a few losses this week and have been extremely busy.”

“We understand, Cas.  With everything you do for us, we’ll be glad to help you out.”  Dean reassured.  Bobby gave him an incredulous look.

“Yeah, cause you’ll be the one with your idjit head buried in the books.” Bobby rolled his eyes.  “I’ll do what I can, Cas.”

“Thank you.”  The angel’s head cocked to the side as if he was listening to something.  “I must go.  I’ll return soon.”  And just like that, Amara’s first meeting with an angel was over.

“Well, you weren’t very up front with Cas,” Dean said.

"I know he’s your friend and this has nothing to do with him, but the fewer people who know exactly how alien I am, the better it is for me. You will keep whatever I tell you to yourself won’t you?   I never told anyone back home your real names or anything, just like I promised.”




“Amara, Cas is family,” Dean placated.  “Whatever we tell him, it’ll be fine.”

“Dean, I didn’t tell my family about you.  All Uncle Jack knows are some vague details.”

“I know.”  Dean understood, he really did; but not telling Cas things felt almost like betrayal.  But it wasn’t.  Really Amara was none of Cas’ business.  He knew what he needed to.  “I won’t tell him anything unless he specifically asks or I think it may be important to a case.”

“Okay, I can deal with that.” 

The rest of the night was spent in silence as the three people researched through the list of leads Castiel had left.  When he awoke the following day, Sam hit the books too and helped cross-reference Cas’s leads against the moldering tomes in Bobby’s library. As evening fell, Bobby sent the three young hunters out to the nearest bar for a well-deserved break and a little peace and quiet for himself.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Dean laughed as the fifth man pressed up against Amara as she headed back from the bar.

“Wipe that smirk off your face, Winchester. You’re picking up the next round and I swear,” Amara put a sickly sweet smile on her face. “if I get groped one more time, I’m going to do something drastic.”

“Like what?”

“Show you how it feels.” Amara said, leaning towards Dean’s ear.

“I might enjoy that.”  Dean said, pressing his lips to hers.

“Excuse me, some of us are trying to eat here.” Sam said a sick look on his face.

“Sorry, Sammy.”  Dean said, unabashed. 

Amara smiled up at him. “I really am sorry, Sam.  We should only have to keep this up for another hour at most.”  She glanced toward the two men standing near the end of the bar.  “Hopefully, Uncle Jack will think we’re just having some fun and take Ianto home soon.  Besides, I really am doing this for your protection.”

“How do you figure that?” Dean asked, wrapping his arm around Amara’s chair and nuzzling her neck.




“Because Uncle Jack would hit on both of you in one fell swoop, which would only serve to piss off Ianto.  And trust me, Dean, the last thing either of you want to deal with is a pissed off Ianto.”  She smiled pleasantly at him as she took a pull from her beer.   “Or worse, hitting on you would entertain Ianto and then, there’d be no stopping Jack. He loves watching hot guys blush, especially if it makes Ianto happy.”

“So, you think we’re hot?” Dean asked.

Sam rolled his eyes, “I’m going back to Bobby’s.”  He exited the bar, calling a cab as he headed for the door.

Amara turned and planted a rather heated kiss on Dean.

“Sorry about this, but now we’re going to have to escalate a bit.”  Amara said as Dean gazed blearily at her.

“What?  Not that I’m complaining, but…why?”

“Because there’s no way Uncle Jack is going to buy us being that gropey in front of Sam and it just stopping once he’s gone.”  She kissed up his neck.  “Look toward the end of the bar.  There should be a guy in a suit and one in an old World War two greatcoat.”

Dean tried to focus. “No greatcoat, but suit is walking over here now.”

“What?”  Amara pulled back swiftly and turned to face the young man making his way to their table. “Ianto?!”

“Hello, Amara,” Ianto pressed a kiss to Amara’s cheek.

“Where did Uncle Jack go?” She asked worriedly.

“He decided that following Sam back to wherever you staying was a wiser course of action.” The Welshman smirked.

“And how did you convince him of that?”

“I simply pointed out that you were likely to become more…amorous once the brother left and he might not be able to keep his presence concealed.” 

Amara laughed, “Very good, Ianto.”  She smiled and turned back to a very confused Dean. “Dean, this is Ianto Jones.  He’s a member of Torchwood, expert coffee-maker, and he looks good in a suit.” Amara said with a smile.  “Ianto, this is Dean Winchester, the guy I’ve been working with.” The two men smiled politely at each other, if a bit warily in Dean’s case.

“Nice to meet you.” Dean growled. “Now, why did you send someone to follow my brother?”

“Mostly because if Jack stayed, you might have injured that devastatingly good looking jaw line of yours.” Ianto said matter-of-factly.  “And we couldn’t have that, now could we?”

“As I’ve told you before, Uncle Jack’s a bit…overprotective.  He tends to see me with a guy and go a bit mental.”

“Mental?”  Dean asked.

“Crazy.” Ianto supplied.  “And as you were the one currently snogging his daughter figure, I’ll let you figure out what he would’ve done.”

“You do realize I made you the moment you walked in here, right?” Amara asked.

“Of course.  Jack, however, did not. He seems to forget that not only did he train you, but so did your mother.”

“Wishful thinking.” Amara smirked for a moment. “And not that it’s not good to see you, but what are you doing here?”

“Well, Jack spoke to Donna about her time here.”

“Donna wouldn’t say anything…” Amara said confused.

“She was worried.  When she came home, she let slip how dangerous what you do is to Gwen.”

“And of course, Gwen had to be the one to go insane and tell Jack.”  Amara’s mind quickly filled in the gaps.

“Once he knew part of it, Donna had to tell us the whole truth.”

“And good ol’ Uncle Jack jumped on the first flight over to rescue the poor baby?” Dean rolled his eyes.  “No offense, babe”

“None taken.”  Amara said clearly unoffended.

“That is pretty much what happened.” Ianto admitted.  “I tagged along by volunteering to help subdue you.”  Amara leveled her gaze at him. “Which means I ‘accidentally’ forgot to pack the sedative Jack planned on using to get you back to Wales with no fuss.” Ianto reassured.

“Thanks.” Amara smiled sheepishly.  “Has he calmed down any since he got here?”

“A bit.  Although I’m not certain things will be settled until he goes on a mission with you.  After that if he still refuses to leave, I’ll stun gun him.”  Ianto promised. 

“Fine.  Are you wearing your earpiece?”  Ianto nodded.  “Tell him the Winchesters and I will meet him back at Singer Salvage.” 

Ianto tapped his ear and relayed the message only to jump in surprise as Jack yelped a response.  “Yes Sam and Dean Winchester.  Slow down, Jack.  What are the Winchester gospels?  I’ve never heard of them.”  Ianto trailed off for a moment.  “I have no idea what kind of car they drive.  Jack, calm down.  Just go to the Salvage Yard.  We’ll be there soon.”  Ianto clicked his comm off.

“Have you ever heard him tell stories about the Supernatural Hardy Boys?” Ianto asked as the trio headed out of the bar.

“Yeah, he used to tell me those stories all the time when I was a kid.  Wait…Dean Winchester…I knew that name was familiar….”Amara trailed off remembering the stories she’d been told.  “OH MY GOD!!”  She doubled over laughing maniacally for a moment. “I’ve been snogging the number 3 on Jack’s fictional characters list.” 

Ianto glanced at her. “Number 3…wow.”

“What list?” Dean asked, nervously.

“Jack’s fictional characters he wants to shag list.” Ianto supplied.  “I believe number one is James Bond, followed closely by Scarlett O’Hara.”

“How do you know everything, Ianto?” Amara asked teasingly.

“Clearly I don’t as I had no idea who your friends were before tonight.” 

“You sound annoyed at that, Yan-toe.”  Dean smirked as they piled into Amara’s rental car.

Ianto ignored the jab at his name, “It’s my job to be well-informed.  I despise not knowing things.”

“Then, how are you dealing with Amara’s profession so well?”

“I’ve known the truth ever since she told us about the two of you.  I kept it to myself, naturally, but I’ve definitely kept my eye on her.” 

Amara smiled over at Ianto. “That’s Ianto.  He’s the caretaker of the whole of Torchwood Three…which technically I still work for, thanks to Jack.”

“Ah, so that’s how you pay for those fancy cars you love to drive and those expensive outfits you wear on a hunt.”

“Oh, Dean you noticed.  You do care.”  Amara said whimsically as the trio moved to the Impala. 

*******


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

As the Impala slid into the driveway, Jack appeared to be practically vibrating with anticipation.  As soon as Dean had parked the car and turned off the engine, Jack was stroking the hood.

“Metallicar,” he said reverently under his breath. “I’ve read about this since I was a kid. There were even some holo-films made about the Daring Winchester brothers.”

“Holo-what?”  Dean’s question went un answered as Bobby exited the house firing his shotgun, Sam close behind.

“Bobby, I’m so sorry.  We should have phoned.  Bobby, Sam, I’d like you to meet my Uncle Jack and his…not boyfriend?” She raised her eyebrows quizzically at Jack as Ianto stifled a snort. “Anyway, my best friend Ianto.”  Sam lowered the raised gun and smiled a bit nervously.

“That would make you Dean.” Jack turned toward the other man, his Harkness charm on full. “You have no idea how much I’ve always wanted to meet you.”

“Actually, I heard about your shag list on the way over.  And I’ll pass if you don’t mind.  Besides,” Dean smirked. “I have a feeling Amara’s probably better in that department anyway.”  Amara’s eyes widened as Dean turned Jack’s attention back to her. 

The Captain’s eyes narrowed as he zoned in on his target.“Young lady, I assume your bags are packed?”  Jack pointed toward the house.  “Because Ianto is going to have us booked on the first available flight to Cardiff in the morning and there you will be locked in the Hub until such time I deem you sane enough to leave.” 

Amara raised an eyebrow.  “You and what army, Jack Harkness?”  Amara took up a defiant position, hands on her hips.  “I am perfectly capable of handling myself out here.”

“Yes and that explains this massive scar?” Jack’s voice raised.

“Folks,” Bobby said.

“What?!” Amara and Jack both shouted.

“Can we move this inside?  I get enough drunk and disorderly calls out here without any help from ya’ll.”

“Sorry, Bobby.”  Amara said, walking toward the house.

“Yes, sorry Mr. Singer.  I forgot where we were for a moment.”Tends to happen with kids.”  Bobby nodded understandingly and ushered the group of people into the house, stopping Dean as he headed in. “You owe me.”




“Technically, they're Amara’s guests and….”

“And Amara’s your guest.  So guess who’s gonna be doing some free van maintenance before he leaves.”

“Okay.” Dean sulked as he entered the house.

“Now, I want to know why you didn’t call me when you took up this ridiculous hobby?  Do you have any idea how many people on this planet as well as a host of others are all ready gunning for you?” Jack began yelling.

Amara rolled her eyes toward Ianto and Dean silently pleading for help. 

However, Jack was on a roll now, “But that doesn’t matter to you, you just decide to throw yourself into even more pointless danger.  At least your father has regeneration as an excuse and your mother has…skill and training.”

“And I don’t?” Amara fired back.

“That’s not the point.  The point is I have to find out about this,” Jack gestured to Amara’s side, “from Donna.  Were you ever going to tell us how close we came to losing you?”

“Not you.  Because if I did, you would’ve never let me leave Cardiff.  You’re the one who brought my parents into this, so let’s go there.  My father stole a ship and flew away from home and my mother bounces from time to time as if it was a pinball machine and she was the pinball.  Neither of them has ever stayed in the same place for very long unless you count the Storm Cage prison and we both know Mum walks in and out of there at her own choosing,”  Amara paused and Jack dove right back in.

“They’re also quite a bit older than you and they are not in my care.  Your father would kill me if something happened to you before he got to meet you…and your mother….she’d find a way to make it stick.” 

Dean leaned over to Sam, “Did she say her mom bounces around time?”

“That’s all you got from this?” Sam rolled his eyes.

“Amara Amelia Song, you have absolutely no idea how serious this is.  I can’t…” Jack broke off, his voice breaking. “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you now.”

“Jack does have one point, Amara.” Ianto offered up, ever the peacemaker. “You should have let us know how badly you were hurt.”

“So you could ditch Gwen and Torchwood to come play nursemaid?  I was fine.  Rufus stitched me up and I was laid up in bed for a few days.  That was it, I swear.”

“I want to see it,” Jack said suddenly. 

Amara slowly lifted the side of her shirt and Jack knelt down examining the old wound.  Dean found himself wincing.  A wound like that was rough work.

“What got you?” Bobby asked, looking at the scar in earnest.

“Rugaru.  Real nasty.  It was my first real hunt and Rufus was my back-up.”

“You went after a Rugaru on your first hunt?” Dean asked, annoyance tinting his voice.

“Well, it was supposed to be my first solo hunt, but Rufus followed me.  Said he wanted to make sure his hard work training me wasn’t all a waste.”  Amara smiled, fondly.  “Stubborn old bastard.”

“Are you insane?” Dean asked.  “You never take on a Rugaru one on one.”

“Well, I know that now.  For some reason, Rufus didn’t cover Rugaru in his basic training course.”

“They are pretty rare, Dean.  We’ve only come across two or three.”  Sam reminded his brother.

“Oh yeah, I remember that book.  The wife was pregnant…Metamorphosis.” Jack said, once again distracted by the living characters in front of him.

“Creepy, man.”  Dean said. “Wait a second…that didn’t happen until after I came back from hell…there’s no way you could know about that.  Chuck wasn’t supposed to publish anymore books.”

“Oh, that’s the creepy part of the history.  The legend says that the author Chuck Shurley disappeared into thin air after writing Swan Song, where Sam goes to hell.  It’s widely loved as one of the best books in the series.  But anyway, his publisher found the novels in the house and printed them...or rather will print them in a few years.”

“Will print…”Bobby let his question trail off.

“Exactly how much have you told them?” Jack asked.

“I may have skipped the year I was born…and the whole time bit.”  She smiled sheepishly. “It’s always so hard for people to accept.” 

Jack nodded understandingly.

“Fine.  I’m from the 51st century, but I’ve lived on Earth in linear time longer than I did there,” the Captain said. “The rest is up to her to explain.”  Ianto murmured something under his breath and Dean could’ve sworn it was hypocrite, but Jack ignored the Welshman.  “Now, are you going to go back to Cardiff peaceably or will Ianto have to get the sedative out?”

“About that, sir.  I appear to have forgotten it.” Ianto said pretending to rifle through his bag.

“You forgot the most crucial element of the plan.”

“Well I did tell you it was a rather foolish plan, sir.”

Jack glared at his lover. “Stop sir-ing me.  I know you only do it to distract me.”

Amara saved Ianto by steering the conversation back to its point. “I’m a capable hunter, Jack.  Ask Sam and Dean, you know how good they are.  See what they say.” 

Sam immediately stepped up. “She is good, Captain.  One of the best I’ve seen.”  Sam said.  “And she’s been such a great help to me, personally.”  Jack turned suspicious eyes back to Amara.

“But even the best can get hurt.” Dean said suddenly.  “You just have to be too slow or feint right instead of left once to be gone.” 

Amara’s eyes flashed with anger at Dean’s words.  He ignored her and continued, “Most hunters don’t make it to Bobby’s age without being lucky SOBs. I’m not gonna lie to you.  That said, the fact that Amara’s still alive after years of hunting proves that she’s good.  And she’s got back-up now. Not to mention one of the most stubborn wills ever.  What we do, what she does, it saves people’s lives.  And isn’t that what you and her dad do?”  Dean stopped talking as Ianto stared at him.

“That was exactly what I’ve been trying to say for years,” the young man said, amazed.  “But he never listens to me.”

“And I’m not listening to him either.  He’s only really known Amara for a couple of months tops.  Not to mention, she’s helping his brother.  And I’ve read the books.” Jack leveled his gaze back at Dean.  “Any man who will sell his soul to save his brother’s life will do just as much to save his mind.” 

Dean hung his head, slightly ashamed.  That may have been true of him once upon a time, but not now.  Now, he understood that dead should stay dead.  It sucked, but that was life.  Trying to reverse nature had only screwed him repeatedly.

“I have an idea.  Let me find a hunt.  You can come along and watch.  Then, you’ll see that I know what I’m doing.  C’mon, Uncle Jack.  You know you want to hunt in America…with the Winchesters.”Amara offered. 

Ianto could see the excitement the idea raised in his lover’s eyes.  And smiled as his and Amara's plan fell into place.

“Fine, but if I’m not satisfied…” Jack started

“Let’s not borrow trouble.” Ianto interrupted, hoping to keep the peace for at least one night.  “Is there a place we can bunk for the night?  I’m afraid it’s astoundingly early in Wales and we haven’t had a wink of sleep.” 

Bobby got a panicked look in his eye.

“They can have my room, Bobby.” Sam offered.

“Actually, I think that room downstairs would suit quite nicely, don’t you, Bobby?” Amara said indicating Bobby’s basement panic room.  Bobby smiled.  “It just might do.”  He led the two into the circular room with its devil’s traps and iron all around it.

“You’ve been aching to test them since they got here, haven’t you?” Sam asked as the two men touched the iron and stepped through the traps with ease.

“I’m not a complete idjit. They had to step over a dozen traps just to get into the house.”  Sam barked a laugh in spite of himself.  Ianto and Jack took in the room appraisingly.

“Is this room soundproof?” Jack asked, leering at Ianto. 

Ianto rolled his eyes as both Amara and Dean yelled, “NO!”

“Maybe Jack should stay here and Ianto can stay in my room,” Amara offered. “The bed’s much more comfy and I don’t have to worry about you trying to stun gun me in the middle of the night.”

“I said we would hunt and I meant it.” Jack promised.

“Seriously, take the room I was sleeping in.  I normally bunk on the floor anyway.” Sam said kindly.  “After all, you guys have flown a long way today.”

“Oh, Sam, no…”She glanced toward Bobby.  “How easily does sound carry in this house?”

“Pretty good.  Gotta be able to hear if anything comes bumping along in the night.”  Amara’s shoulder’s dropped.

Dean whispered, “Are they really that bad?” 

“You’ll see…or rather hear,” the woman muttered.

 Jack and Ianto quickly settled themselves into the guest room leaving the others to sort out their own bedding situations.

“Sam, you take my room.  I’m gonna be up for awhile yet, searching for a hunt.”  Amara said.

“Nah, I just slept for two days.”

“And trust me, you’ll need more sleep in a bed.  I know what I’m talking about.” 

“Fine, but I am going to keep working on Cas’s research for awhile.”  Amara smirked as she got her way and pulled out her laptop.

“I’ll help you research for a bit,” Dean offered pulling one of Bobby’s won books over. Silence reigned over the trio for a few minutes. 

“Thanks for standing up for me tonight, both of you. I really appreciate it.” Amara said, finally speaking up. 

Sam smiled at her. “No problem.” 

 Dean looked up from his book, “I didn’t say I liked the idea of you hunting alone either, but as you are over 21, I don’t see that there’s much I or anyone else can do or say about it.  But…just be more careful around Rugaru.  I mean, seriously, that crap is dangerous.”

“I am now, Dean.  I promise.” 

Dean propped his feet up on the desk and pretended to study for a moment. “So, your Mom bounces around time?” He asked suddenly.

Amara hung her head, “I wondered how long it would take you to bring that up.”  Amara sighed.  “Honestly, it’s…one of the more complicated parts of my life.  I don’t ever know who will believe it.  My entire life is like some badly written science fiction plot.”




"Welcome to the club,” Dean said, thinking of a certain set of books. “Our life is badly written fiction and we’ve seen it.”

Sam snorted, “Too true.”  Sam said.  “Doesn’t make our lives any less real.”

Amara took a deep breath before launching into her tale. “Well, first of all, you have to accept that time travel is real.”

“Done.”  Dean and Sam said simultaneously.

“That was much easier than expected.” Amara narrowed her eyes at the men.

“We’ve done it.  Granted it was via Angel express, but if they can do it, I don’t see why others can’t,” Dean shrugged.

“Of course you have.”  Amara rolled her eyes.  “Who else would think the time travel was the most believable part of my life?” She wondered aloud.  “Anyway, my grandmum was kidnapped when she was pregnant.  My mum was then taken and raised to kill my dad.”  

“Wait, what?” Sam asked. 

Amara rolled her eyes. “Just let me get it all out and then you can tell me how preposterous it all is.”  She paused for a moment before continuing, “My mum was kidnapped by some aliens from the future who trained her to kill my father.  He’s supposed to be rather important.  However, the one thing they could not have accounted for happened and Mum fell in love with the man and his time traveling blue box.” Amara repeated the complicated facts as a child would repeat a favorite fairy tale.

“So you’re Dad time travels too?” Dean asked. 

Amara merely glared before continuing, “The most unnatural part of the whole thing is that the couple met all out of order.  The first time Mum met him he already knew her…or rather he had met another her in the future. Basically, most of their timeline is back to front.  Every time my mum meets my dad, he knows her a little bit less and she knows him a little bit more.”

“That’s really tragic.”  Sam said after a few moments. 

“And that’s only the cliff notes version, Sam.”  Amara’s lips curled into a half smile.  “But somehow, they got together enough to get pregnant with me…only Mum never got to see a version of my dad to explain it.” 

“So aliens from the future kidnapped your mom to brainwash her so she’d kill your Dad…”  Dean trailed off.  “I can understand not thinking we’d believe you.  But…”Dean glanced at his brother who gave a slight nod.  “But it’s not that different from us fighting the Angels ‘plans’ for us last year.”

“It went against everything we’d been taught.”  Sam agreed.  “But we couldn’t let the world burn because some dicks wanted to fight because their Dad said they had to.” 

“And your mom must be one hell of a woman to go against all she’d be taught like that.”  Dean said, thinking of the difficult places he and Sam had been in with the angels.

Amara grinned as she thought of her mom. “She is.  She’s a doctor of archaeology…or rather will be in the 51st century.”

“I thought you said your mom was in prison for killing your dad.”  Sam asked.

“He…well, they really, sort of… faked his death.” Amara conceded.  “No one is supposed to know he’s still alive. My grandparents know him, so Mum told them he’s alive and Uncle Jack and Donna know of course.  But as far as most of the universe is concerned, the last Time Lord is dead and it needs to stay that way.”  Amara stressed.  “Even Castiel.  I don’t mind him knowing most of the stuff about me, but…if he found out, other’s might too.”  Amara looked at Dean’s clearly uncomfortable face.

“It’s not my secret to tell.”  He finally admitted. 

“I won’t say anything either,” Sam promised, although his eyes were wide.  “But I think I am going to sleep now.  This is a lot to process.”

“Tell me about it.”  Amara commiserated. “Imagine having this conversation with Mum over a year and a half long period.”  She smiled at Sam as he walked to the stairs. 

“I’ll help you look for a bit longer.”  Dean said.  “After all, I didn’t let you get much done.”

“Thanks.”  Dean pulled up Sam’s laptop and the two buried their heads in the internet for awhile before Amara found herself yawning and looked up to see Dean half-asleep in his chair.  She gently kicked at his feet.  “So, where should I sleep?”

“You can take the couch.  I’ll sack out on the floor next to you, if that’s cool.”

“What if I sleep in the nude?” Amara asked, teasingly.

“I won’t complain, I promise.” Dean said a wide grin across his face.  The duo chuckled as they made up their beds.  They had just settled in to sleep when they suddenly heard the tell-tale creaking of bed springs at a rather fast pace and a headboard hitting the wall.

“Son of a bitch.” Dean said, covering his head with the pillow.

“Told you so.” Amara said with a giggle.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Bobby handed Amara a newspaper as she entered the kitchen the next morning.

“Found this last night.  Now you get those idjits out of my house.  I need a decent night’s sleep and that ain’t happenin' while they’re here.”  Dean snorted into his coffee at Bobby’s words.

“And you, you still have a van to fix before you leave,” the old man pointed at Dean.

“But Bobby, I thought I’d do that once we got back after seeing Jack off.”

“Like hell.  You better get out there and get to work so you’re ready to leave when Amara is.”

“Yessir,” Dean muttered finishing off his coffee and heading out the door to the waiting van.  He shook his head as he walked. It had been a long time since Dean had felt that knot in his chest loosen rather than tighten.  He couldn’t put his finger on it, but having Amara around seemed to be good for them, even if she was an alien.  Dean laughed to himself as he popped the hood of the old van.  Who would have thought that the day would come when Dean Winchester would be getting help from an alien, and a hot one at that?

Dean stopped his thoughts right there.  This wasn’t the time to get bogged down in feelings. No chick flick moments for him.  Instead, he lost himself in the familiar rhythm of engines and grease.  Everything simply faded away as he concentrated on the maintenance of Bobby’s van.  He owed the old girl that.  After all, she’d gotten them out of enough jams.  Dean was concentrating so intently, he jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Easy now, sweetie.”  Amara said.

“What brings a lovely English rose such as yourself out here?”

“Welsh.” Amara automatically corrected, “And I left Bobby and Sam to do the whole Hunting 101 exposition inside.  We’ll probably be ready to head out just after lunch.”  The woman glanced at the engine. “Is that enough time for you?”

“Yeah, Bobby mostly sent me out here as payback for bringing Captain Harkness and Ianto here.”

“Oh, well then I should help.  It is my fault after all.”  She stepped forward and glanced down at the engine. “Although, truthfully, I can’t tell a spark plug from a carburetor.”

Dean stared at the redhead in shock, “You do realize those are nothing alike, right?”

“I assumed, but I am loathe to admit that other than engine, they are two of the few car related words I know.” 

Dean shook his head, amused, “That’s really almost sad.”

“Well, I don’t have my own car.  In Cardiff, I tend to walk everywhere, here I rent a car.”

“And what do you do when you’re off on a crazy time adventure with Mom?”

“I help fly whatever ship she’s stolen.”  Amara‘s look turned mischievous and Dean couldn’t help but laugh.

“Flying is not my thing, but it does sound like you and your Mom have some fun.”

“Oh, we do.”  Amara assured him.  “Although the time we spent a year on an archeological dig on planet Sunday was the most boring year of my life.”

“An entire planet called Sunday, really?  Don’t we get any more creative in the future?”

“Not particularly.  I’ve been to Vegas 12 as well.  But Mum never allowed me to stay there long.”

“Why not?”

“Probably because taking a 10-year-old to Vegas is never a good idea, no matter what time period you’re in.”

“So Vegas is the same and there’s a planet called Sunday. Don’t any of them have names that are, I dunno, alien?”

“You mean like Raxacoricofallapatorius?”

“Raxa-what?” Dean continued to work on the car, his hands automatically adjusting cables and belts.

“It’s an alien planet.”  Amara reassured him.  “There are tons of races out there that have already claimed and named their own planets.  But the ones humans get to first; they are usually stuck with the more unoriginal names.”  Dean wiped his hands off and closed the hood.

“All done,” he grinned at her.

“I am sorry I couldn’t be more help.  It’s my fault they’re here and…”  Dean silenced her with a wave of his hand.

“No problem.  I’m sure you can think of ways to pay me back, sugar.”  Dean leered at Amara playfully.

“Don’t start what you won’t finish, sweetie.”  Amara whispered into the man’s ear.  She pulled back and gave him a saucy wink before heading toward the house. 

“Lunch should be ready in a few minutes, by the way.” 

Dean followed her inside to get a glass of water for the throat that had gone suddenly dry.  As they ate, Amara and Sam filled Dean in on the hunt Bobby was still drilling Jack and Ianto on.

“Two or three days ago, Brittany Wilson goes missing. Boyfriend comes home late, finds the apartment pristine.”  Sam explained.“So he figures she went to her mom’s place.”




“Naturally, the next day rolls around and he calls the mum’s place.  Mum says Brittany never made it over.  When she misses work, the boyfriend finally calls the cops.” Amara continued.

Dean surmised, “And of course, the cops assume the boyfriend is behind it.”

“At first, but he has an airtight alibi for the time.” Sam countered.

“What makes this our kind of deal?”

“Three babies have gone missing from the hospital Brittany works at.” Amara said.

“After her?” Dean clarified.  Both Amara and Sam affirmed.  “So what are we thinking?  Crossroads demon, witch ritual that went wrong…cannibals?”

“Cannibals?” Amara asked.

“Long story,” Sam shuddered, before answering Dean. “We’re thinking we should go find out.”

“Well, this doesn’t sound like an easy open and shut case.” Dean said.  “Thought we were taking the civvies.”

“And we are.”  Amara stated.  “They will be great at the investigation part.  This is sort of what they do…figure out strange things.  I promise, if they get in the way, I’ll drive them back here myself.”

“Sounds like you two have this figured out.”  Dean glanced between the pair.

“We planned it out when you were working outside.”  Sam admitted.

“Thought you didn’t trust her?” Dean asked.

“She’s been in my head and hasn’t run away screaming yet.  I think we’re good?”  Sam glanced at Amara.

“I’m good.” Amara reassured.

“Okay, game plan, then?” Dean asked.

“You and Amara head down in the Impala now. I’ll follow in another hour or so with Ianto and Jack,” Sam said. 

“Amara and I?”

“We played rock, paper, scissors for it,” Sam said, slightly ashamed.

“You beat him?” Dean asked.  “I never beat him.”

“Cause you always choose scissors.” Sam muttered before wandering off.

“You and I will take a look around the hospital, while Sam, Jack, and Ianto question the boyfriend and check out the house.”

“Shouldn’t we be questioning the suspects?” Dean asked.

“I wanted to start them off somewhere they’d be comfortable.  They question suspects and victims in Cardiff all the time.” Amara explained.

“Sam okayed all of this?” Dean questioned. 

Amara nodded, “Naturally.” 


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Dean calmly walked up and down the cordoned off area in the nursery as Amara checked out the security footage.  He ran his finger along a substance he found on the floor and smelled rotten eggs. The man immediately flipped his phone open and dialed Amara.

“I got sulfur here.” 

“And the security tapes are blank.”  Amara said, walking toward the nursery and meeting the other hunter.

“So, demon?” Dean asked, hanging up his phone.

“Who apparently likes babies?” Amara watched Dean’s face pale and a look of recognition settle into his eyes.  “Ring some bells?”

“Yeah, but…it can’t be.  She’s dead. Sam killed her.  Must be another high level baddie.”  Dean said shortly.

“Are you sure?  Maybe she just got sent back to hell or …?”

“I’m sure.” Dean interrupted.  “If Lilith hadn’t died, Lucifer couldn’t have been raised.” 

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”   Dean avoided Amara’s eyes.




“Dean, I’m sorry. I-“

“There’s no way you could’ve known. Don’t worry about it.”  The duo made another pass of the room.

“How do you think the others are doing?” Amara asked after a moment.

“Oh, Sam’s probably just about to the boyfriend’s apartment.  He’ll call in when they’re done.”  Amara nodded and continued her search.  Dean followed behind her.  An extra set of eyes was sometimes the difference between a break in a hunt or a dead end.  Dean noticed a leather string sticking out of the cabinet.

“Amara, I think I got something.”  Dean crouched down to pull a small leather bag out of the cabinet.

Amara knelt next to him to get a better look, “Looks like someone was aiming for the garbage.” 

Dean gingerly pulled it open and poured the contents into his hand. “Whoa, this is old black magic.  There’s a bone, some herbs, and…I think that’s some goofer dust…and maybe some devil’s shoe string.  I’ll have to ask Sam.” He tossed the items back into the pouch.  “But someone was trying to hide from something big and bad.”

“Aren’t goofer dust and devil’s shoe string used to ward off hellhounds?” Amara asked. 

Dean shuddered, “Yeah, it keeps’em at bay anyway.”   Their eyes met over the top of the bag.




Amara dusted off her pants as they stood. “So we likely have a witch who was running from hellhounds?  Did she take the babies as a pay-off?”

“Possible.  Hellhounds work for a lot of demons, including cross roads.  But nothing about this Brittany chick screams that she made a deal.”  Dean spoke, talking through the case as they left the room.

“Let’s ask around.  Maybe she’s had a run of good luck in the past…what is it now?”

“Ten years.  Most demon deals are for that long,” Dean supplied.

“But yours…” Amara trailed off.

“Sam was an expensive soul…and I was needed down there.  The Righteous Man had to break the first seal.” 

Amara tried to simply nod.  This was nothing new.  The Winchesters had come clean about their roles in the Apocalypse when Amara and Donna had asked.  She just hadn’t realized how abnormal the Winchester crossroads deal had been. 

Amara dropped the subject and began moving around the hospital.  Dean going one way and she another, questioning suspects about Brittany and her history.  They met back up on the ground floor of the building an hour or so later.

“Get anything?” Dean asked.

“Not much.  Brittany was a loaner, but a good nurse.  She came from a good family; boyfriend seemed nice, et cetera.  You?”

“More of the same, except for one doctor.  He’d known Brittany before she was a nurse. According to him, her dad was in a psych ward for the past ten years.  The dad claimed that Brittany’s mother had worked some type of mojo to make him marry her.”   Dean filled Amara in as they walked to the car. “And little Brittany was born less than six months after the wedding.”




“And I assume Dad’s deceased.”

“As of three years ago, yep.”

“Demons and hex bags?” Amara raised an eyebrow.  “This does not sound good.”

“I know.”  Dean slid behind the wheel of the Impala and let a soft smile overtake his face as he listened to the engine purr.  “Hey baby.” He patted the dash for a moment before moving the car.

“You really love this thing don’t you?”

“Only home I’ve ever had.”  Dean shrugged.  “At least once Mom died.”

“Which explains why it’s your anchor.”  Amara smiled at him and moved on before the conversation could turn awkward.  “So where to now?”

“Check in at a motel, wait for Sam to call.”

The redhead glanced at her watch, “Shouldn’t he be about done?”

“Probably.”  Dean shrugged.  “He texted me like a half hour ago when they got to the house.  Said something held them up at home.”  Dean pulled into a seedy motel a few minutes later.

“Three rooms please.”  Dean said, pulling out his credit card.

“Dean, I can pay for my own room.”  Amara muttered as the clerk pulled out a book. 

"It's cool. You can pay next time.”   Dean said, cocky smirk firmly fixed in place.




“Tell me this isn’t some manly bravado bullshit,” Amara sighed.

“Okay, it isn’t.”  He said, unconvincingly.

Amara rolled her eyes.

“I’m sorry, but it appears we only have two rooms available.  One with two doubles and the honeymoon suite. ”  The clerk turned to the couple, letting his gaze linger on Amara.  “But, I got a bed back here if you’re interested.” 

Amara immediately wound her arm through Dean’s.  “We wouldn’t want to impose. Your brother could just double up with my family.”  She smiled brightly and winked at Dean. “After all, shouldn’t the newly married couple get the honeymoon suite?” 

Dean quickly caught on and grabbed Amara’s hand.  “It shouldn’t kill him for one night.”  Dean agreed quickly. “After all, we did go to Vegas to make it legal.”  He pretended to leer at her and Amara gave an overly girlish giggle.

“Oh, that’s good.  I’m glad we could accommodate you then.” The clerk’s face took on a disappointed air.

The faux couple quickly paid for the rooms and headed out the door, bursting into laughter as soon as they made it to the car.

“We should totally give Jack and Ianto the honeymoon suite.”  Dean said.  “That way no one has to suffer.”

“I suppose.  But…part of me really wants to make them believe we’ve actually taken it.” 

A slightly evil grin lit up Dean’s face at Amara’s suggestion.

“You’re sure Jack won’t kill me?”

Amara pretended to think about it for a moment, “Mostly sure.  And the look on Sam’s face when he thinks he has to share with them…”

“Priceless.” Dean agreed as his phone went off.

“Yeah, we’ve got rooms.  The Pine Tree motel.  Yep.  We had sulfur too.  Don’t forget to pick up some pie.  And we’ll meet in Room 214.  The other room is 110.”  Dean hung up the phone.  “They’re on their way.”  The couple grabbed their bags and booked it to the honeymoon suite.

“So, how long do we have until they get here?”

“Half hour tops.  Sam’s picking up food on the way.”

“How realistic do we want to make this?” Amara asked as she tossed her bag to the ground.

“What do you mean?” Dean asked.  “Sam won’t care if we had sex.  He’ll just assume we were being bitches to take the better room.”

“But won’t he know that you wouldn’t make him take the other room without a reason?”  Amara asked.

Dean considered it for a moment, trying to decide just how much fire he was willing to play with.  Sam was one thing, but pissing off Jack was something else entirely.

“True,” he finally agreed.  “So how believable do you want to make it?”  He raised an eyebrow and patted the bed next to where he sat.

“Oh no, Dean.  Trust me.  We ever wind up in bed together, it had better take a lot more than thirty minutes.”  She did, however, pull the blanket off the bed.  “Now, you roll around here for a moment.  I’ll have to find something suitable to change into.”  Dean smirked then tossed her the t-shirt sitting on top of his bag.

“What about this?  Will it do for believability?”  Amara laughed and grabbed the shirt, heading for the bathroom as Dean pulled off his own suit and slipped back into his familiar faded denims.  Then, he flopped onto the bed and began rolling around on it. Amara reentered the room wearing the shirt Dean had tossed her.  It ran to about mid thigh and Dean noticed she’d tried to muss her hair as well.

“Convincing enough?”  Dean got off the bed and looked at her.  His eyes grew suddenly serious as he took in her appearance. 

“Almost.”  He whispered, walking toward her, twining his fingers into her hair, pulling her close.  His lips gently brushed hers as his fingers stroked through her hair repeatedly.  He pulled away after a moment.

“That’ll do it.” 

Amara smiled up at him, almost shyly, “Please don’t tell me that was just habit.” 

“No, it wasn’t.” They gazed at each other for a few moments before both turning away, awkwardly clearing their throats.

“So, research time then?” Amara said, pulling out her laptop.

“Yep.”

The two settled onto the large bed, Amara’s laptop open and a few books across Dean’s legs. Both pretended they didn’t notice their bodies leaning against each other. After what felt like an eternity, there was a knock on the door. 

“Showtime,” she whispered.  Dean jumped off the bed and headed toward the door, a grin stretching across his face.  It’s been awhile since he’s gotten to see Sam’s annoyed bitchface.

“I’ll get it, ‘Mara. Probably just the champagne,” he said loudly.  Dean opened the door to see Jack’s un-amused face.  Amara had bounced across the room before Dean could say anything.

“Is it Sam…?” Amara’s voice cut off as she saw Jack.  He pushed his way into the room and took in the rumpled bed and the research scattered over it.

“Is this why you want to stay in America, Amara?”  He asked his voice quiet and cold.

“Jack, no-“

“It was a joke, sir.  For Sam’s benefit.  We were just trying to make him believe he was bunking with you guys for the night.  There are only two rooms available and one was this one, the honeymoon suite.”

Amara jumped onto Dean’s explanation, “Of course you and Ianto can have it.  We thought Sam would be up with you…or even before you to fill Dean in while you and Ianto tossed the gear.”

“Sam and Ianto are grabbing the food and heading up.  I was coming to tell Amara that I was beginning to understand why she does this.”  His gaze turned toward Dean’s shirtless chest and he smiled cheekily for a moment.  “And now, oh boy do I.  Nice tattoo, Dean.” Jack’s acknowledgement of the couple’s unclothed state snapped them into action and Amara quickly pulled the jeans on she’d set out.  Dean was just throwing a t-shirt on as Sam and Ianto entered the room.

“Man, tell me you and Amara did not call dibs on this room.”  Sam said, with a whiny quality to his voice Dean wasn’t sure he’d heard since Sammy was a kid.

“Looks like that’s not all they did.” Ianto observed drily.

“Hey, isn’t that Dean’s-” Sam began.  Dean elbowed his brother in the stomach.  “Jerk.”

“Bitch.”  Dean responded automatically. 

Ianto turned to look at Jack who looked crestfallen for a moment before coming back to himself.

“Ianto, when did Amara grow up?” He asked, turning toward the man.

“Quite some time ago, sir.”

“I’ve made an idiot of myself.  Aren’t you supposed to stop me from doing that?”

“I am not a god, Jack.”  Ianto countered.  “Nor do I have the ability to prevent fathers from being blind to their daughters.” 

Jack looked back over at the woman. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice before.”

“Oh, you’ve noticed plenty, Uncle Jack.”  Amara smiled kindly.  “When it was convenient for a mission.  You’ve just never had it thrown in your face like this before.” 

Understanding dawned on Sam’s face. “Dude,” he slapped his brother across the back of the head.  “You slept with her now.  With Jack here.” 

Dean gave his brother an affronted stare, “No, we just…we wanted you to think you had to spend the night with them…”

“And what’s wrong with that?” Ianto asked affronted.

“Ianto, the sound at Bobby’s carries rather loudly.  We all heard a headboard hitting the wall multiple times last night,” Amara said, tactfully. 

Ianto slapped Jack’s arm, “You told me your wrist strap would block the noise.” 

Jack looked down at his arm with concern.  He tapped the leather arm band and then, looked up at Ianto sheepishly. “It cancelled out the human auditory noises. I messed up the settings coming over on the plane.”

“Thank God for small favors.”  Amara whispered. 

Dean snorted.

“What was that?” Ianto asked, raising one eyebrow artfully.

“I just asked Dean if he’s seen that sky today.  Talk about blue.”  Amara said distributing the bags of food Sam had set on the small table by the door.

“Now, what did you all find out at the boyfriend’s?”

“We found traces of sulfur.” Ianto said, pulling his salad out.

“And there was a pagan altar set up in a closet in the guest room closet.”  Jack added.

“It’s looking like Brittany may have pissed off a fairly powerful demon by not holding up her end of a bargain.” Sam said. 

“So, what happens from here?” Ianto asked.

“First we have to figure out which demon and then we have to find Brittany.” Amara answered.

“She may have made a dumb move, but, hopefully, she’s not evil.” Sam agreed.

“If she is?” Jack asked.

“We gank her.” The older Winchester declared. 

Silence filled the air for a moment before Sam continued, “We’ll go talk to the mom tomorrow.  See if we can get her to tell us what demon she dealt with.  Brittany may be trying to save her mom.”

“How long ago did the dad go crazy?” Amara asked.

“Ten years.” Dean answered.

“Any chance this is a demon deal gone wrong?” Jack asked.  “I remember the book Crossroad Blues.  Didn’t you trick the demon into getting rid of the deal by trapping her?”

“Yeah, but I don’t see that working again. Especially since the former King of the Crossroad is now the King of Hell...or he was before Castiel killed him,”  Sam said with a shake of his head.

“Could the mother have offered the daughter up when her deal was up?  Brittany’s only what twenty-three, twenty-four…?” Dean asked.

“Twenty-one, actually,” Ianto remembered.

“So if Mum makes a deal because she’s pregnant, deal comes due, and to get out of paying it she offers her daughter’s soul instead,” Amara filled in the story. 

“Sounds plausible.” Jack admitted disgruntledly.

“Then, why did Dad go crazy?  And why the altar at Brittany’s place?” Sam asked.

“Maybe she amended the deal and so the demon amended the deal as well,” Amara offered.

Ianto spoke, “As for the altar, the boyfriend did mention that the mother had stayed over a few nights.”

“Well, looks like we won’t be figuring this out tonight.  Maybe you better rest on it.” Jack said with a stretch.

“What about you?” Dean asked.

“Ianto and I are leaving in the morning.  Can’t leave Gwen and Donna alone at Torchwood for too long.”  He looked at Amara.  “Besides, you all have it covered here.  We’re not needed.” 

Amara launched herself across the table and wrapped the captain into a tight hug.  “Thank you, Uncle Jack,” she whispered. 

A few minutes later, Sam and Dean grabbed their stuff and headed down to their room. 

Amara looked around her for a moment, “Any chance the floor in your room’s available, Dean?”

“I think we can work something out,” He assured her.  “You coming now?”

“I’ll be down in a minute.”  She glanced toward Jack and Ianto who were clearing away the garbage. 

Dean nodded.  “Here’s the key.”  He placed the key in her hand and brushed his lips across her forehead. “See you in a bit.” 

Amara shut the door behind him, “So, does Donna win the lottery money?” Ianto asked once Amara had turned to face the Torchwood men again.

“What are you on about?”

“Some of us have a lottery going as to when you’ll shag Donna’s ‘Boy-Toy” Ianto barely resisted laughing out loud at the nickname.

“And Donna said…?” Amara queried.

“You already had.”

“Then, no.  She loses.” 

Ianto rolled his eyes in disbelief, “Oh c’mon.  You are wearing the man’s t-shirt and that bed has been thoroughly…”

“Rolled around in.  We were honestly screwing with Sam--and it backfired on us in a big way.  Now, please Ianto, drop it.”

Ianto’s gaze turned concerned, “You must realize that Dean cares for you.”

“We get along.  He’s fun to work with and he’s damn good at this job.”

“That he is,” Jack agreed, finally speaking up and ending the ‘girl talk.’ “But he’s not the only one.  I’ve seen you fight with us, but it’s been second nature to protect you for so long…”

“No one’s asking you to stop looking out for me.  Just stop expecting to see a 10 year old girl when you do.” 

“No promises, but I’ll try.”  Jack pulled her into a hug.

“The Doctor may be my father, Jack, but I’ll always be your little girl.” Amara felt tears drip onto her shoulder.

“I know.”  He pulled back and stared at her for a moment.  “It’s odd.  I’ve fathered a few children throughout the years, but…you’re the first kid I’ve really raised.”

“I know, Jack.  You sure you want to leave before all this is over?”  She glanced back over to Ianto who was studiously pretending to ignore them.

“We probably should…” Jack began, but trailed off as Ianto’s eyes took on an excited look at the thought of staying. “Fine, you have until tomorrow evening.  Then, home.” 

Ianto nodded.

“I’m sure we can figure it out by then.”  Amara assured.  “Now, I’m going to leave so you two can rip each other’s clothes off in peace.”  She kissed Jack and Ianto both on the cheek before leaving and heading down to the waiting Winchesters.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

“Everything okay?” Dean asked, as Amara entered the room.

“It’s better than okay.  Jack actually believes I’m an adult now.  If I’d known that was all it would take, I would have let him catch me in bed with someone long ago,” Amara smiled brightly.  “I think, for the first time, he actually believes I can do this.” 

Sam looked up from his computer, “So are they still leaving in the morning or…?”

“Ianto is booking them a flight out in the evening.  He wants to stick around and help for as long as Jack will let him,” Amara said, happily.

“Cause they’ll be a lot of help,” Dean scoffed.

“They were definitely helpful today.  Jack put the boyfriend at ease and Ianto actually found the altar,” Sam pointed out. 

Amara merely gave Dean an I-told-you-so eyebrow. 

Dean held up his hands in surrender, “Okay, fine.”  




Amara smirked as she settled into one of the room’s stiff chairs. “I win,” she whispered to Sam who was stretched out on the bed closest to her. 

The tall man grinned over at her as Dean glared at the two.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing, sweetie.  So what are you boys doing this evening?” Amara spoke glancing around the room.

“Nothing big, channel surfing,” Dean responded.

“Double checking our research.”  Sam glared at his brother.  “Alone.” 

Amara smothered a grin at Dean’s nonchalant shrug.

“Jerk.” Sam said, glancing down at his laptop.

“Bitch,” Dean responded, his eyes never leaving the microwave where his popcorn was currently cooking.

“Didn’t we just eat?”  Amara asked, indicating the loud machine.

Sam rolled his eyes, “Dean can’t watch movies without popcorn.” 

“Ah,” Amara glanced at the screen where the commercial for a Lethal Weapon movie played. “Sweetie, toss me that extra blanket when you grab the popcorn,” Amara commanded propping her feet up into the other chair.

“Why?”  Sam asked.  “There’s a blanket on your bed…”

“My what?" Amara shook her head. "Dean had the floor last night.  I’ll be fine right here.”

“Uh-uh.  No way.”  Dean said shaking his head. 

“Dean, I’ve roughed it before,” Amara assured him.

“But not with us.”  Sam agreed with his brother.  “Dean and I played rock, paper, scissors for this bed.”

Amara raised an eyebrow, “Seriously, Dean.  You’ve got to stop choosing scissors.” 

Dean shrugged, “No big deal.”

“Yes big deal.”  Amara walked over to the extra bed and sat next to Dean who was still watching his popcorn.

“Well, I’d share with Sasquatch over there, but dude hogs the covers like a mother.”

 Amara glanced over at Sam as he sat pretending to be buried in research.  He had already learned that when Amara and Dean were both dead set on being stubborn, he was butting out.

“You know,” Amara whispered.  “The bed’s probably big enough for two.” 

Dean waggled his eyebrows.“But you might take advantage of me,”  he teased.

“Just sleeping, I promise, sweetie.”  Amara’s innocent smile turned a bit more seductive.  “Unless you fancy a shag while your brother sleeps in the next bed.” 

Dean’s face blanched at the thought. “Sleeping it is then.”

Amara nodded moving back to lean against the headboard as the opening titles of Lethal Weapon began to flash across the screen.  “You know, I’m not completely certain I’ve seen this before.”

Dean brought the popcorn over and settled in with Amara.

He gave her an affronted look, “That is so tragic, these movies are classics.  Lucky for you, there’s a marathon on tonight.” 

Amara grabbed a few kernels of popcorn from the bag and let herself get sucked into the world of Riggs and Murtaugh.  By the end of the move, she’d fallen asleep against Dean’s chest, popcorn and movie forgotten as slumber claimed both her and Dean. 

Sam flicked off the tv and rolled his eyes at the situation.  Dean was sleeping with a woman and there was only sleeping involved.  The younger brother grinned at the thought of how a much younger Dean would have reacted to that.

*****

The next morning, Amara, Dean, and Jack set out to question Brittany Wilson’s mother.  Sam and Ianto stayed at the motel to continue researching what demons might accept babies as substitutes for a human soul.

“Mrs. Wilson, we are so sorry to bother you.  I’m Agent Evans with the FBI,” Dean flashed his fake badge.  “These are my associates from Interpol Agents Smith and Harkness.”  Amara and Jack both nodded at the woman.  “We were wondering if we might have a few words with you about your daughter.”  The woman was nothing special and as she led them through the house, one might assume this was a normal middle-aged woman. 

However, if someone was well trained (and Dean was), that person would notice that the woman’s eyes kept glancing toward the ceiling as Amara asked the fairly routine questions about when the woman had last heard from her daughter.

“Ma’am, when did your husband go insane, exactly?” Dean asked.

“On our tenth wedding anniversary.  Brittany turned eleven six months later.”

“So ten years to the day?” Dean asked again.

“Yes…” the woman’s answer was a bit more hesitant.  “Tomorrow would have been our 20th wedding anniversary.”

“Interesting.”  Dean glanced toward Amara who pretended to write in a notebook.

“What does my husband have to do with any of this?”  Mrs. Wilson’s voice had taken an angrier tone.

“It just seems odd that ten years ago your husband goes insane, and now it seems your daughter may have gone the same way,” Jack said, raising an eyebrow.

“Brittany’s not crazy…she's just confused, that's all …”

“And I noticed a strange powder along the entryway as we came in.  May we take a sample?” Amara asked, trying to goad the woman into admitting her mistake.  However, before she could say anything, the sound of a baby’s cry filled the room.  Jack, Dean, and Amara were up and running in moments.  They dashed upstairs to find the three babies lying in a large bassinet. 

Amara quickly picked up and cradled the one that had been crying, “It’s okay, sweetling.  We’ve got you.  Your Mummy and Daddy are missing you something terrible.”  She bounced the child for a moment with Jack watching with a wide smile, while Dean checked on the other two.

 Jack’s smile abruptly disappeared as he heard the cock of a gun.

“I don’t care who you are.  Put those babies down and leave.  She’s promised to let me go in exchange for them.  And I’ve lived too long with this debt to let a few cops get in the way.  I’m finally going to be free.” 

Dean put his hands out. “Let’s all stay cool.  I know how you feel.  I made a deal once.  I gave up my soul for my brother.  I looked for every conceivable way to get out of it.”

“And how did you?” Mrs. Wilson asked eagerly, gun shaking a bit in her hand.

“I didn’t.  I died,”  Dean said.  “There’s no escape from a demon deal.  And this,” Dean gestured to the babies.  “This is not worth it.” Dean had been steadily moving in front of Amara and the baby. 

“That’s where you’re wrong.”  The woman’s hand steadied and her nervous expression became much more certain.  “I will be free of this.”

 Jack sidled in front of Dean,“Let’s all stay calm here.”  Jack reached toward Mrs. Wilson.  The woman merely narrowed her eyes and pulled the trigger. 

Dean covered Amara and the baby as Jack’s body fell lifeless to the ground.  He didn’t spare a second as he then rushed the woman who had been cocking the revolver for a second shot.  He quickly disarmed and knocked her out. 

Amara set the baby back down and pulled Jack’s body toward her.

“I’ll call Ianto.” Dean said, placing his hand on Amara’s shoulder, his other hand sending a quick text to his brother.

"It'll be okay." Amara murmured repeatedly into her uncle's hair.

They sat like that for a moment before Ianto ran into the room with Sam on his heels.

“We were heading here to meet up with you when Jack texted Ianto a 911.”  Sam explained. 

Amara and Ianto’s eyes met over Jack’s body for a moment before she scooted over and Ianto wrapped his arms around his lover’s body. 

Sam’s eyes met Dean’s hard ones. “He stepped in front of me.  He…he took my bullet, Sammy.”

“We need to get the babies out of here.”  Sam said, trying to push off the grief for this man he barely knew. 

Suddenly, Jack’s body gave a huge gasp and Ianto’s arms tightened around the man.

“Easy, Jack.”  The captain’s eyes fluttered open.

“Ianto…” He smiled unguardedly at the man for a moment before the memories of this latest death rushed back to him.  “Amara…?”  He started to turn looking for her.

“Here, Jack.  And we’re fine.  We’re all fine.”  She reassured him.

“Define fine.” Sam’s voice came from across the room where the Winchester’s stood with their guns trained on Jack.

“Oh, uh…yeah. Jack doesn’t stay dead.”  Amara said simply.

“Jack doesn’t--what now?” Dean asked confusion across his face.

Amara quickly stood, stepping between the men. “It’s not a spell or anything evil, I swear.  He’s been like this for…what?”

“Over 150 years.”  Jack supplied, leaning into his lover.  It was always hard to bring someone new in on his secret.

“What?” Sam’s confusion now manifesting as well although he and Dean did lower their guns.

“Long story short, a very sweet, very young girl was given a lot of power.  I had died defending the Doctor.  Said girl didn’t want me to be dead and now I can’t stay dead.” Jack spoke in a rush. 

“Wow, that’s a very condensed, but appropriate version. Have you been practicing, sir?” Ianto said, trying to return Jack to the lighter mood that coming back always seemed to drive from him.

“Really?” Dean asked.  “No deal of any kind, just a dumb girl-”

“Rose wasn’t dumb.” Jack disagreed.  “She just didn’t want me to die and the power within her assured that I couldn’t.” 

Dean and Sam looked at each other for a moment.

“We don’t have time to deal with this now. Is it okay if Amara explains when she has time?”  Dean asked, tying Mrs. Wilson up.  “Sam is going to go call an anonymous tip in--”

Jack interrupted, “It’s fine if Amara explains things, but why don’t Ianto and I just call it in?  I have my Torchwood ID and I’ll explain that I was playing detective and I never expected to stumble across this kidnapper.”

“And she fell down the stairs while chasing us.” Ianto added.  “Unfortunately she likely suffered a head injury as her memory seems to be mostly gone.”  He pulled a few small pills out of his pocket.

“You brought retcon?” Amara asked.

“I had to have another contingency plan to get Jack back home,” Ianto said with a shrug.

“You people can erase a person’s memory? Sweet!” Dean said before turning back to work.  “Now, we have a demon to catch.”

“Oh, yes, about that.  We think we’ve found which demon you’re looking for.  But…my bet is she’s in Brittany’s body,”  Ianto said.

“Who is it?”

“Lilim.”  Sam said. “The daughter of Lilith.”

“Lovely.” Amara responded, drily.  She glanced back at Jack and Ianto.  “Are you sure you’ve got this?” 

Ianto nodded and shooed her away. “We’ll call and say goodbye after we talk to the police,” the Welshman assured. 

Jack stood up warily.  Sam kept a suspicious stare leveled at him. 

“I promise, Amara will explain about me.  And it’s really not my fault.”  Jack’s voice was quiet. 

Amara pulled her uncle into a hug.  “Take it easy tonight, Uncle Jack.” 

He nodded and kissed her on the head.  “Don’t worry about me, I’ve got Ianto to take care of me, don’t I? Now, get out of here.  You’ve got a woman to save and a demon to stop.”

Amara grinned widely and followed the Winchesters to their Impala.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

“I had it under control, Dean,” Amara shouted as she followed the boys into their motel room.

“If by ‘under control’ you mean you were about to have your neck snapped, then yeah, you did.  And you’re welcome,” Dean said, throwing his jacket onto the table.

“I was fine.  If one of you had started the exorcism-“

“You would be dead,” Sam agreed with his brother.  “We made the only move we could.”

“There wasn’t any other choice to be had, Amara.” Dean crossed his arms across his chest as Amara stood in front of him, hands placed firmly on her hips.

“There’s always a choice, Dean.  Why is it always kill first, question later with you people?” Amara said.  “None of what happened was Brittany’s fault.  Her mother gave her to the demon.” 

“So?  Bad things happen to good people all the time,” Dean responded. “Her mom gave her soul to a demon.  Said demon took over the girl’s body and kidnapped some babies for lunch.  Be grateful we saved the babies in time.”

“We should have done more.  I should have done more. It’s my job to save people, to protect them.”  Amara sat heavily down on the far bed, her voice beginning to break.  “And I fail.  I always fail.” 

Sam glanced at his brother in question.  Amara’s voice sounded broken.  She was always the optimist…Sam had no idea how to handle this version of the woman.  How did they help her after all she’d done for him? 

Dean nodded toward the door and Sam heeded his brother’s silent directive heading toward the diner across the street. 

“Amara,” Dean started once Sam had left, “sometimes everyone doesn’t get to live.”  He sat beside her and wrapped his arms around the woman who looked so much like a little girl right now.  “And it sucks.”

Dean looked down at Amara.  Her blue eyes stared at the wall.  The look in them was familiar enough. He could practically see the gears turning in her head, replaying the whole thing, looking for any change that would fix it.  He’d seen the look in the mirror often enough, especially after a bad hunt.  “Hey,” Dean pulled her chin up and forced her to meet his gaze.  “You know that sometimes we can’t save everyone. Life isn’t always fair,” he gently reminded her.  Suddenly, the tears that had been filling her eyes flowed and she buried her face into Dean’s shirt.

“If I’d just been faster, smarter….if I could be more like Dad or Uncle Jack, none of this would have happened.  Brittany would be free to go home to her boyfriend.”

“You can’t know that.”  He rubbed her back.  “Amara, no one, not even your famous father can possibly be perfect all the time.  And I bet Jack has made mistakes and lost people before.” 

Amara’s mind immediately flashed to Owen Harper and Toshiko Sato. “Yeah, he has.  So has Dad for that matter.”

“See?  Not that losing someone is ever good, but it comes with the territory.”  Dean looked down at Amara’s tear streaked face.  “And I know that you know that.  So what brought this on?”

“I just, I try so hard, Dean.  And after hearing about Brittany’s mom and how horribly the girl was treated, I needed to save her.  I should have been good enough to do it.”

“Her death doesn’t make you a failure as a hunter.  We saved those babies earlier,” Dean smiled at the memory. “And Ianto said they were all back with their parents, safe and sound.”

Amara looked up at the hunter, “Yes, but I need to fix people—as many people as I can, Dean.  I need to save them, give them back their families.  The people on this planet, they have no idea about the dangers that are here and out there.  We are supposed to be able to keep them safe, to make them okay, and give them a world they can live on.  We’re supposed to be their champions, their white knights in a world of black and gray.” 

Dean pulled the woman in tighter, “Don’t all champions have an off day?  Knights fall off their horses all the time.”  He ran his fingers through her ginger locks.  “Even Dr. Sexy occasionally loses a patient.” Dean pointed out eliciting a laugh.

Amara pulled out of Dean’s arms and began wiping her eyes. “Thank you, Dean.  I’m sorry about-” She gestured around the room.  “Sometimes, I get a bit too invested in cases.”

“Oh, really?” He teased, gently. “I hadn’t noticed.”  Dean hesitated for a moment.  “Do you mind if I ask you something?”  Amara nodded and signaled for him to go ahead as she walked to the sink and began washing her face. “Why do you do this to yourself?  You could be back home with Jack and Ianto hunting there.  Why come to a strange country and--become their champion?  Hell, you could go to a different planet and fight the good fight.”

Amara thought about Dean’s question as she dried her face. “I dunno.  I’ve never been asked that before.  The reason I came to America at first was because it was a great hiding place.  A group of bounty hunters had picked up my trail and Jack knew that I could blend in fairly easily in America so he sent me.  That was the year Rufus saved me.”  Amara shrugged, “I don’t think of myself as only helping Americans. I’ve hunted overseas here and there.  Mostly when the Apocalypse was happening.  Another huge plus is Jack has a lot less pull over here than anywhere in Europe.  It’s sort of the perfect place to get out of the shadow of the Doctor and Torchwood, I suppose.”  Amara laughed to herself

“The who?”  Dean had heard the name mentioned, but he still wasn’t sure exactly who or what the Doctor was.

“The Doctor…it’s what my dad is called.  And I don’t think the moon would be far enough to go to completely escape his exploits.”  

When I started hunting alone, Dad gave me the Impala.  She was always his car.  No matter how long I had it, the Impala was Dad’s baby.  He still ordered me to wash it and reminded me about maintenance.  It was like he was always following me and I was always reminded of how I wasn’t good enough,” Dean offered.

“What changed?”

“We got hit by a semi.”

“Come again?”Amara’s eyebrows shot up.

“Sam, Dad, and I were all in an accident.  Demon possessed some poor bastard driving a semi-truck.  I don’t remember most of what happened,” Dean admitted.  “See I was in the back seat with massive internal injuries already.  Yellow eyed demon,”  he explained.  “But when I got out of the hospital, I rebuilt the Impala from the ground up.  I kept all the things I really loved about her, but…I made her mine.”  Dean looked up at lost woman again.  “Maybe that’s what hunting is for you.”

“What do you mean?”

“You said your dad saves people and your mom hunts so you do both.  Maybe being a hunter is your way of…making the family business your own?  Once I finished the Impala, I finally realized she was mine. I was my own man…sort of.  I was at least my own hunter.”

“But you were still all about Sam?” 

Dean’s head dipped, “Ain’t I always?” 

Amara chuckled at the truth of the statement,   “Thanks, Dean.” She wrapped her arms around his neck.  “I really needed that.”  She lightly kissed him. 

He pulled her down until she was sitting next to him.  “I want you to know, this is not because of a habit.” He leaned toward her, his hand resting on her face and kissed her tenderly.  “Stop worrying so much about being Jack’s niece…or __The Doctor's_ _ daughter.  Just be Amara and you’ll be awesome.” 

Amara brought their lips back together quickly. Dean’s hand skimmed her side as he deepened the kiss.  Amara’s hands were busy running through Dean’s hair.

They were on their way to a rather heated make-out session when Amara’s phone began ringing.  She pulled away from Dean rather hesitantly before grabbing her phone.

“Hello,” She answered, her gaze never leaving Dean’s.

“Hey, we just wanted to let you know we landed.” Ianto’s voice came over the line.

“That’s great, Ianto.”  She cleared her throat trying to get rid of the husky tone she was certain colored her voice.  She stood, shaking her head to clear the thoughts of Dean’s lips as well as the rest of him.  “Was the flight good?”

“Not as good as whatever you’re apparently doing.”

“I’m not doing anything, Yan.”  Silence greeted her for a moment.

“I’m going to pretend you did not just call me that.”  Ianto said.  “And hang up so you can go back to shagging the gorgeous shorter brother.”

“Oh, is that Amara?” She heard Jack’s voice come through the phone.  Jack’s voice became clearer as Ianto handed him the phone.  “I forgot to tell you earlier.  He is way better looking than I’d imagined….and I’d imagined quite often.” 

Amara rolled her eyes. 

“I can hear it when you do that you know.”

“Do what?” Amara asked innocently.

“Roll your eyes at your perverted uncle.  Anyway, that’s my way of telling you I approve of any and all illicit activities that you perform with Dean Winchester.” 

Amara laughed in spite of the awkwardness of Dean’s presence.  “Thanks, Uncle Jack.  Love you.  I’ll talk you soon.”  She hung up the phone before Jack could request graphic commentary of…whatever was happening with Dean.

“They made it back okay, I assume.”   

“Yes, safe and sound.  And Uncle Jack decided to tell me he approved of you,” Amara informed him cheekily.

Dean’s face took on a worried expression, “Approved of me for what?”

“I believe his exact words were any illicit activities I wanted to perform with you.” 

Dean cheeks turned a bit pink, “And your response?”

“Was to roll my eyes and hang up the phone.” 

Dean’s laugh came out a bit forced.

“Dean, I haven’t said anything to anyone about…whatever this is with us.”

Dean raised his eyebrow, “This what with us?”

“This… friendship that we are developing.  Jack doesn’t really know about it.  I mean, he knows we talk, but…not how personal it is.  He just likes to tease.  But apparently, the Torchwood crew is taking bets on our relationship and where it will lead.”

“Relationship?”

“Yes, apparently anytime I meet with handsome strangers, the Torchwood team starts a betting pool about which one and when I’ll shag them.”  Amara held up her hands.  “I’m their only source of outside gossip.”

“Wanna go eat?  Sam’s probably at the diner across the street.” Dean swiftly changed the topic. He just wasn’t ready to deal with the present.  That kiss…it changed how he was thinking about some things.

“Sounds good.” 

Dean pulled his leather jacket on and tossed Amara her pea coat.  They walked in silence for moment until Dean blurted, “How many times has this pool been won?”

Amara thought for a moment, “Three…no four that I know of.  But two of them really shouldn’t count.”  

“Why don’t two of them count?”

“Well, the first one was a bet on when I’d shag Ianto.  Naturally Jack wasn’t invited in on that one.”

“Naturally,” Dean agreed.

“And Ianto won because we shagged once before anyone at Torchwood knew that we’d met.”

“Ah, so he cheated.  Wait, Ianto as in Jack’s boyfriend, that’s who you and Donna were talking about at the graveyard.” 

Amara chuckled, “How many Iantos do you know?   Jack is obviously still unaware and for both mine and Ianto’s sanity we should probably keep it that way.” 

Dean shook his head in agreement, “And the other time?”

“I didn’t sleep with the person involved and Toshiko knew I wouldn’t so she won the pot.”

“How did she know?”

“Because it was Rufus.  She’d done a background search on him the moment I’d mentioned him. Owen and the others had just heard the name, so they figured that’s where my sudden love for hunting came in.” 

Dean made a disgusted face. “Maybe food isn’t such a good idea now that the image of you and Rufus is in my mind.”

“Yeah, like anything could put you off pie for long.” 

Dean’s face took on a more interested look, “Pie, you say?” 

Amara’s laugh echoed through the parking lot.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

“Wait, let me be clear, your name was Jensen?” Amara rolled the name around on her tongue awkwardly.  She and the Winchesters were meeting at yet another diner in yet another town.  She’d gotten a phone call a few hours ago asking when she’d be ready for Sam’s next ‘treatment.’ 




(Apparently Dean had rented the DVDs of the show Dollhouse last time he stayed at Bobby’s.“What?  Eliza Dushku is hot!” had been his response when Sam had arched an eyebrow at the choice.) 

Since she’d been finishing up a simple salt and burn, they’d agreed to meet up halfway between Bobby’s and the little town in Ohio she’d been hunting in, which meant they were somewhere in the middle of Illinois.

“Yeah. And he was Pada-lackey or something.”

“Padalecki,” Sam corrected automatically.  “We were actors on a show called Supernatural about the Winchester brothers,” Sam’s voice was offended.

“And we were rich.”  Dean said.

“Like really rich.” Sam affirmed.  “And we were married.”

“To each other?” Amara teased quirking an eyebrow. 

Sam threw his napkin at her.

“No,” Dean’s reply was quieter. 

“I was married to the actress who played Ruby. It was…odd.”

“And he got la-id.” Dean said in a sing-song voice.

“So did you, I bet.  After your wife called and everything.” 

Dean lowered his head for a moment. “It was all a bit weird.” The older brother admitted.

“You never did tell me who you were married to. Did we know her?” 

Dean immediately clammed up. 

“It wasn’t fake Lisa was it?” Sam asked quietly, noting his brother’s discomfort.

“No, it was…nobody.  Now, are you ready for your treatment, Sammy-boy?” 

Sam rolled his eyes, but let his brother get away with the subject change.

“I guess so.” Sam said, as the trio got up and headed toward the door. 

“I want to try the hell memories this time.”  Amara said once they were loaded into the Impala.  “If that’s okay with you guys?” 

“We’ve got to try sometime,” Sam agreed.

“Exactly, that’s the spirit.”  Amara smiled widely before glancing at Dean, whose hands were griping the steering wheel.  Her grin faded.  “We can hold off a bit longer if you want, Dean.”

“It’s not my noggin you’re screwing with.” Dean shrugged, pretending he wasn’t bothered by the danger his brother was placing himself in.  “By the way, have you heard anything on the grapevine about this heavenly war heating up?”  Dean changed the subject.  “I’m worried about Cas.  He’s stressed and he won’t let us help.”

“Dean, I’m one of the last people that would have heard of anything.” 

Dean nodded as if he expected the answer, but had to know.

“Has it occurred to you that Castiel hasn’t told you very much to keep you protected?  After all, I’m sure he still sees himself as your guardian.  It is his nature to protect you.” 

Sam looked back with a grateful expression. “See, Dean, sometimes you just need an outside perspective, fresh eyes on the circumstance.”

“Maybe…I dunno.  It feels off.  He was always honest before…at least once he joined Team Free Will.”

“Team Free Will?” Amara queried.

“Yep, we go against the pre-designed plan of Heaven and Hell.I personally think we need t-shirts, but…” Dean shrugged.   




Amara found herself smiling at Dean’s words.  Only he could have been in the middle of the Apocalypse and made up a nickname for his side.

*******

Dean was barely able to catch Amara as she collapsed to the floor next to Sam’s bed.

“Mara, Mara, wake up, sugar.”  Dean shook the woman slightly.  Amara didn’t stir.  Dean gently placed her into his bed and tucked her under the covers.  He, then, turned his attention back to his little brother.  Where Amara had been pale and sweating, Sam looked semi-peaceful.  There was no struggling like there had been when Amara had been with him.

Dean pulled a chair in between the two to keep watch as he tried to piece together what had just happened.  It had started out fairly routine. Then suddenly, Dean had found himself and the Impala frozen in Bobby’s yard.  He had been unable to push forward at all.  His only option had been to remove himself from the connection Amara had made.  Once he’d opened his eyes, he’d watched as Amara had steadily grown paler and paler for a half an hour.  Sam had been trying to fight his way off the bed every now and then, so Dean had held him down.  He’d calmed down rather quickly twenty minutes ago and had been sweating along with Amara.  Then she’d collapsed. 

Since when did Dean Winchester hesitate to do anything for his brother.  Dean shook his head at himself, but didn’t pray for Castiel.  He just kept his silent vigil, dozing occasionally in the chair in between his brother and his…friend.

Fifteen hours passed before Sam regained consciousness.  When he did, he woke to find his brother hovering over him.

“Have a nice nap, Sleeping Beauty,” Dean asked searching for any sign of distress in Sam.  Once he had assured himself that Sam’s brain wasn’t completely fried, Sam filled him in on what had happened.  The moment they’d entered the hell memory Amara had known that it would be too much.  She had pushed Dean clear and then begun hauling Sam out of it.  It had taken quite a bit of hauling.  Once they’d escaped, she began building mental blocks to prevent Sam from ever dealing with the memories again.  She almost collapsed twice.  Sam had begged her to go, saying that they could build the blocks later.  Amara had ignored him and continued to push herself.  She finally showed Sam what she was doing so he could help.  Then, as she was falling again, Sam had pushed her out of his mind. 

The moment Sam was done talking, Dean pulled out his cell phone. 

“Please tell me you’re calling Jack.” 

“Yeah, something tells me we better be ready for some guests.”  Dean said as he punched Jack’s number into the phone. Dean outlined what had occurred and after a spectacular bout of cursing, Jack had said he would be there as fast as he could. 

Two hours later, there was a knock on the door.  Assuming it was the pizza they’d ordered, Dean swung the door open to reveal Captain Jack Harkness in full Captain mode, behind him stood Ianto, and a rather impatient woman with strawberry-blonde curlsDean immediately ushered Jack in.




“Where is she, Dean?” The woman asked, following closely behind the captain and wrapping an arm around Dean’s waist.  Dean pulled away.

“Do I know you?”

“I suppose not.  I’m sorry, things rarely go in order for me.  I’m River Song, Amara’s Mum.”


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

As consciousness filtered back into Amara, she was aware of a voice…Dean.  There was a hand stroking her hair and Dean’s soft tones spoke softly to her. 

“So, I never did say who I--or Jensen or whatever--was married to in that other world.”  Amara ceased struggling to lift her eyelids, instead listening intently.  “It was you…or rather fake you.  She looked just like you, but apparently she’d only just been cast as a new character on the show, an old friend of the Winchesters.  She was so excited--and all I could think about was how her eyes didn’t have quite the same mischievous sparkle as yours.” 

Amara’s lips unconsciously tilted up.

“Mara, can you hear me?” 

The woman slowly nodded, licking her dry cracked lips and finally getting her eyes to open.

“I heard.”  Amara croaked and watched Dean’s cheeks color slightly for a moment.

“You had us worried,” he said, moving to sit next to her on the bed.

“Sorry about that.  I assume Sam is…”

“Sammy’s up and about.  Has been for three days.” 

Alarm filled Amara, “I’ve been out for three days…”

“Actually more like four and a half at this point.” Dean said, making a show of checking his watch.  “And Sam explained what happened, but let’s see how you do.”

“I pushed you out because the memories were too intense, Sam and I finally pulled ourselves out and put mental blocks all around those memories…I was really tired…”

“Sam managed to push you out of his mind as you were collapsing.” Dean said, running his fingers over her hand.  “And just so we’re completely clear, pushing me out was not okay.  I was the anchor, not you.” 

The woman’s face took on an ashamed look for a moment. “I just…you said you were in hell before and I could feel the agony Sam was going through.  I didn’t want you to have to deal with it again.”

“Doesn’t matter, don’t ever leave your back-up behind again.”  He leveled a serious look at her.  “And I mean mentally or physically.” 

Amara bobbed her head obediently, “I’ll try.  It’s just habit to take care of people, Dean.”  The man rolled his eyes before leaning down to place a kiss on her forehead. “So what have I missed?”

“Well, after Sam woke up and explained what happened, I didn’t really have much choice.”

“You called Jack.”  Amara stated. 

“I would’ve done the same thing for anyone and I would’ve expected the same if Sammy was lying unconscious with Jack.” 

Amara was too tired to fight the overprotective urges of the man and shrugged, “Better give me the phone then.  I’ll call Jack, get a few hours rest, and tomorrow Sam and I can start again.” 

“I think not!” came a voice from the door. 

Amara turned to see a particularly unwelcome sight. “MUM! What are you doing here?”

“Apparently, nursing my idiotic child.”  River quickly came to her daughter’s bed side.  “Honestly, Amara, what were you thinking?”

“Dad could handle it, so I-”

“You are not your father.  You don’t have his experience or skill at dealing with the human mind, I don’t care how many people you’ve helped before.”

“But Mum-“

“I also don’t care how much Sam deserves it.  The last thing he or Dean would want is you to become a vegetable because you were doing something too difficult.  Am I right, Dean?”

“Yes, ma’am.”  Dean responded.

“Mum, as Uncle Jack has recently learned, I am an adult.  I made this decision on my own.”

“I know you’re an adult, dearest.”  River smoothed her hand over Amara’s curls.  “I also know you are stubborn and determined to right the wrongs of the universe.  With the Doctor and me as your parents you’d have to be.”  The mother smiled down at her daughter. 

“She awake?” Jack said, peeking his head into the room.  Dean moved out of the way so Jack could take his place next to Amara. “I thought I heard your dulcet tones, Princess.” 

Amara merely glared at Jack, “You called my Mum, Jack? Really?”

“Don’t look at me like that.  I actually was trying to reach the Doctor, but River answered the phone.”

“The TARDIS is such a smart girl,” River said fondly. 

“That’s even worse, Uncle Jack, you do realize that.”

Jack leveled a serious gaze at her, “So is being in a coma for four days, Amara.” 

Dean began to slowly slip out the door to let Sam and Ianto know that Amara was awake and apparently fine.

“Where do you think you’re going Dean Winchester?” Amara said, raising an eyebrow.  “You do not get to leave me alone with them when it’s your fault they’re here.”

“Actually,” Dean said with a slight smile.  “It’s yours.  If you hadn’t overdone it, I wouldn’t have had to call them.”  His smile changed into a smart ass grin, “Besides, Sam and Ianto will probably want to know you’re out of the woods.”

"Ianto’s here,” Amara squealed.  She turned to Jack, expectantly.  “Well…go get him.”  Amara made a shooing motion with her hands.

Jack rolled his eyes with a smile.  “Whatever you say, Princess,” Jack headed toward the door without argument, pulling Dean with him.

“So how much trouble am I actually in?” Amara asked her mother once the boys had gone.

“Oh, I would say enough.  You do realize you will have to back to Wales for at least a few weeks.”

“But Mum, that seems ridiculous.  I just need some more rest and I’ll be good as new.”

“It’s either that or I stay here with you and Dean…” River raised an eyebrow.  “Oh, and did I mention, I’ve met Dean before.” 

Amara was surprised, “When?”

“His future.”

“Bollocks.”  Amara said. The only way for River to have met Dean in the future is if he was with the Doctor or Amara herself.  Neither option seemed like the best way for River to meet the hunter. 

River shrugged.  She was use to living her life backwardly.  River was happy she’d been able to mostly keep Amara’s timeline straightforward, except for the occasional slip-up like when she’d met Dean.

“Don’t worry, dear.  I don’t think it’s too far into the future,” River consoled her daughter.

“You do realize this is blackmail do you?"  Amara glared at her mother, "And if I agree to go back to Wales peaceably in a few days, then what?”

“Jack will monitor you as well as Martha and possibly your grandparents.”

“So what you’re saying is I’ll be returned to the Companions’ survivors club?”  River laughed.

“Pretty much.  I’m sorry, dear, but it is the best solution. Your father was actually due at the Storm Cage any minute when I got Jack’s phone call,” River climbed into bed with her daughter and wrapped her into a hug.  “But just say the word and I’ll completely blow off your father for you.  After all, you are much better company.”  The mother kissed the top of Amara’s head.

“No, it’s fine.  I understand.  You’re heading back soon aren’t you?”

“Probably tonight, now that I know you’re fine.”

“You knew that before you came.”

“I couldn’t be sure.”  River turned serious eyes to her daughter.  “We both know time can be rewritten.  If I hadn’t come, I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself.  Truthfully, if you had slept one more day, I was calling your father with our emergency code.”

“Isn’t the code you’re only supposed to use when the Daleks are invading Earth or something?”  Amara asked with a tired smile.

“And you are ten times more important than that,” River said, tapping her daughter’s nose with her finger.  “Now, you go back to sleep.  I’ll send Dean out for some food for the next time you’re awake.” 

Amara obeyed, already feeling her eyes close as she snuggled up to her mother.

The next time she woke, Amara found a different pair of arms entwined about her.  While they were nowhere near as soft as her mother’s they were still fairly comfortable and familiar.  She turned her head to see Dean lying next to her and struggled to sit up.

“Easy there, sugar.”  Dean said, waking up and helping the woman.

“Is Mum still here?”  Amara asked, glancing around wildly.

“She stepped out for a minute.  Asked me to trade her places.  I told her you’d probably prefer Jack or Ianto, but she wouldn’t hear of it.” 

Amara calmed down and within moments, River was re-entering the room.

“Well, I am going to head out.  You’re in good hands, darling.”  River took her daughter’s face into her hands again.  “And no worries, I’ll be seeing you soon.”  She placed a kiss onto her cheek and pulled back.  She pressed a few buttons the wrist strap she wore and was gone.  Amara found herself staring at the spot her mother had just disappeared from, tears pricking her eyes.

“Amara, are you okay?” Dean asked, pulling the woman back to his chest. 

“I’m fine.  I will be fine. Promise,” she sniffled

Dean gave her a skeptical look. “You know I don’t really do this kinda thing, but…wanna talk about it?”

“It falls into that complicated timey wimey thing, Dean,” Amara said, trying to brush the subject off.

“Amara, c’mon, you let me unload on you all the time.  Let me at least return the favor.  Try me.”

“Fine, remember how I told you I had basically re-watched Donna’s memories with her. Well, I saw the first time my dad met my mum--and don’t forget that Dad’s a time traveler as is Mum.  Well, the first time Dad met Mum…she died.  She saved his life.”  Amara took a ragged breath before continuing.  “Donna didn’t see it, but she forced Dad to talk about it later.  Dad was preparing to sacrifice himself, but Mum…she knocked him out and took his place.  And there’s nothing I can do to change it.  See, if Dad hadn’t seen her die, he wouldn’t have gotten to know her later and I never would have been born.  So every time I see Mum, it’s very possibly the last time, but I can’t save her because then I don’t exist.”

Dean nodded slowly after a moment, “Well, it’s not quite the same thing, but…I met our parents before they were married and Sam and I both had to save them before we were born.   We tried to save Mom, but…it didn’t work.  Flippin’ Angels.  They erased Mom’s memory of us being there because we weren’t allowed to change history by stopping our own births.”  Dean said, “So I sort of get it. Not completely of course, but sort of.”




“I’m sorry you and Sam had to go through that.”

“It’s okay.  It was a while back and I think we both knew we couldn’t actually change things.  But…”

“You had to try,” Amara said understandingly. “I could probably change things, but Mum would never forgive me. I’d no longer exist and she-“

“You can stop right there.  The last thing I--or anybody wants is you to have never been.  Who knows where Sam and I would be without you.”  Dean’s hand brushed Amara’s cheek as he spoke.

“You’d probably be right where you are, just with a bit less back-up,” Amara smiled, fatigue already beginning to pull her back to sleep.

“Yeah, but it is such nice looking back-up,” Dean said, stroking a finger through Amara’s hair.  She smiled as her eyes drifted shut.

“Hope you’re talking about me,” Jack said as he entered the room a few minutes later.  “Did River leave?” 

Dean gently lowered Amara off him and onto her pillow. “Yeah, she headed out a few minutes ago.” 

“Figures,” Jack huffed.  You could always count on River to run off once the danger was over.  She and the Doctor really were rather alike.

Dean glanced down.  “Amara just fell asleep so if you wanted to talk to her about traveling…”

“Actually, it’s you and Sam that Ianto and I want to talk to.”  Dean followed Jack to the room next door where he, Ianto, and River had been staying.  Sam and Ianto were already there waiting, a chess board in between them.  Ianto stood up as soon as they entered.

“I can go sit with Amara…” he offered.  Ianto hadn’t been able to spend any time with Amara since she’d woken up. He hadn’t even really sat with her when she was sleeping. Jack had kept him busy with some mystery assignment.

“She just fell asleep,” Dean said sitting down.

“Besides, I’d like you here while I talk to Sam and Dean so you can fill in whatever I miss.” 

Ianto’s eyes dropped as he acquiesced to his partner. 

“You can sit with her afterwards, I promise.” Jack turned back to the Winchesters and began. “First of all, I want to thank both of you for looking after Amara and the rest of the world.  We know that you don’t get the thanks you deserve nearly often enough.  It’s partially in recognition of your good work that prompted me to get Ianto to do a few things for you.” 

Ianto took over, handing two small files to Sam and Dean.  “First, I cleared all of the credit card debt for any of your aliases we know.  If you can give me a complete list, I’ll be sure I cleared all of it.  Second I wiped all record of your criminal backgrounds.” 

Sam and Dean both took on stunned impressions.  “But, I thought Torchwood was like a little secret alien hunting group.  How could you do all this?” Sam asked. 

Jack laughed and both the Winchester’s sent him startled looks. “Sorry, the secret part caught me off guard.  We are supposed to be secret, but in Cardiff the moment anything weird or bad happens, it’s always blamed on ‘bloody Torchwood.’ and they point down toward Cardiff Bay.”

“Granted, it usually is our fault,” Ianto admitted, and then turned back to the boys.  “Which brings us to the third thing.  This one is optional.  We would like to put you all on the Torchwood payroll.” 

Dean and Sam exchanged looks.

“Absolutely not,” Dean said.  “We work for ourselves.”

“All we would be doing is paying you.” Jack said. 

Ianto pointed to the papers, “You can read over the contracts in your folders.  Basically, it says that you are freelance agents within Torchwood and we pay you a fixed salary for simply doing your job.” 

Sam immediately began reading over the contract.

“What about this clause?” he asked.  “You can call us in on your jobs?”

“Only if you’re available and willing.  I just put that in there in case we needed some help on an alien case or if demons invade Cardiff or something.” Ianto said, “But if you don’t like it cross it off.”

“This is well, basically our thank you. Not just for helping Amara, but…for everything you’ve given up or lost to do this job,” Jack said.  “I know this doesn’t begin to make it up to you…”

Dean interrupted the captain. “Are you offering all other hunters this deal?”

“I hadn’t planned on it and I couldn’t offer it to all of them, but I had thought about Mr. Singer.  If he agreed we could make him the head of a North American Torchwood.  Basically all you’d have to do to get out of trouble is say you work for Torchwood and to call Cardiff.”

“We aren’t the only people to have suffered you know,” Dean said, thinking of Amara’s confession about River.  “We may have been through hell, but what Amara’s been through has been just as bad and I don’t see you offering her any big prize. You just expect her to help people because it’s in her blood.  Well newsflash, Harkness, it’s in our blood too. We’ve watched people give their lives, their spouses, everything for this job.  It seems pretty crappy to take an offer like this when none of them get it. We only get it because you happen to be a fan of our crappy books.”

Dean stormed from the room and back into Amara’s.  It’s not that he didn’t appreciate what Jack and Ianto had done…or at least he would once he’d calmed down.   It just didn’t feel right to accept pay for hunting.  It was like offering Batman or Superman cash for stopping the Joker or Lex Luthor. They were the only ones with the tools to do it, so they did.




Dean shook his head.  He knew it wasn’t really like that at all. Bruce Wayne was a millionaire and even Clark Kent had a day job.  But taking money for helping people…it just felt wrong to Dean.  He paced at the foot of Amara’s bed.

Jack knew all their dirty secrets, how could he think they deserved this break?  Bobby, sure.  The man was already the hub for all major hunting activities in the area.  But he and Sam, they didn’t get breaks like this. 

“Maybe you just finally met the right people,” Amara’s soft voice spoke from the bed.  Dean glanced toward her.

“Did you just-?” He gestured at his head.

“You were talking out loud, Dean.”  Amara explained and pulled the covers back, patting the bed next to her. 

Dean gave her a disbelieving look.

“It’s rainy, I’m tired, and I want a snuggle.”

 Dean reluctantly climbed in. 

“Now, what break did Jack offer you?”  Dean quickly filled her in. “Why doesn’t it feel right?  You aren’t taking the money from the people you helped are you?” 

Dean shook his head, slowly.  “No, but…it just feels odd.”

“Tell Jack you’ll think about it.  Then, if you don’t want to do it, call him when we’re back in Cardiff.”  Amara snuggled into the hunter.  “Now, shush, I’m trying to recuperate here.” 

Dean felt her breathing quickly begin to even out.  Sam entered the room a few minutes later with Ianto. 

The hunter extricated himself from Amara’s limbs, standing up.“Sorry about snapping, Ianto.” 

Ianto waved off the apology. “Don’t worry about it, Dean.  I understand, better than you think.” 

Dean glanced toward Sam for a moment before speaking. “We will think about the offer though.  Think that’ll be okay with Jack?”

“Of course.  He understands that this is a lot to take on at once and it could completely change your life.”  Ianto responded as he took his place in the chair next to Amara’s bed, placing her hand in his.  “She’s my best friend,” the Welshman’s voice said softly.  “I know that I’m supposed to be the stoic, understanding one, but honestly, I can understand Jack’s protectiveness when I see her this way.” 

"She'll be fine, you know." Sam said, trying to awkwardly comfort the Welshman. 

"I know, I just wish she'd take it easier or at least stay closer to home."  Ianto shook his head.  "I know that once I've calmed down and had a proper think I'll remember that Cardiff and Torchwood are just as deadly as anything else she gets into."

"You're allowed to worry, man," Dean said.  "She'd worry just as much if it were you."

"But I highly doubt she'd be trying to help Jack lock me away in a tower," Ianto said, his eyes still fixed on his friend's sleeping face.  "I've just got to repeat the mantra 'she can take care of herself' about ten thousand more times and I should be good.  Don't let me keep you."

Sam and Dean quietly stepped out, leaving Ianto to his vigil.

Amara spent most of the rest of the day asleep.  She woke up once or twice and talked with Ianto, easing his worry.  The Welshman’s expression relaxed visibly after he’d finally been able to spend some quality time with her.

Once evening rolled around, Amara remained awake and declared herself hungry.  Sam jumped from his post next to the door to go and get dinner.  The woman’s next demand was that Jack take Ianto out somewhere nice since they hadn’t had time on their last visit.  This took a bit more wheedling, but the expert at Torchwood manipulation soon had her way and Jack and Ianto were gone.

“Alone at least,” Dean teased as he leaned into Amara and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“I could do with less guilt and worrying for a bit,” Amara said unapologetically.  “You’re just lucky I like you and you don’t treat me like glass.  Otherwise I’d have sent you with Sam.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” Dean grinned and pulled his gun duffel out from under the bed.  “So what did you have in mind for this evening since I know you aren’t allowed any strenuous activity?” Dean asked with a slight leer.

“Give me that remote, peasant.” 

Dean smirked and handed Amara the control.  She flipped through a few channels before giving a tiny squeal and sitting up in bed, fluffing up her pillows behind her.

“ _Death cannot stop true love; all it can do is delay it for a little while.”_ Amara mouthed the words along with the man on the screen.

“What are you watching, sugar?” Dean asked looking up from the gun he’d begun cleaning.

“One of the best films ever.”  Amara said, dreamily.

“What’s it about then?” Dean asked incredulously.

“Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, miracles…”

“And?” Dean sounded unconvinced.

“And true love of course.” 

“Is this a kissing a movie?” he asked, even more suspicious.

“Yes, now shut up.” 

Dean placed the empty gun against his head and mimed pulling the trigger.  Secretly of course, he was thrilled that Amara was returning to her snarky self, but he’d never say so.

The movie continued playing and Dean pretended to continue cleaning his gun as the fictional couple made their way into the fire swamp.   Before much time had passed, Sam arrived with dinner and quickly distributed it glancing at the TV.




“Princess Bride?” Sam gave an excited grin. “Nice.  Jess and I use to love watching this.” Sam settled at the edge of the bed and dug into his burger.

“ _Rodents of unusual size…I don’t think they exist_.” Sam quoted along with the pirate on the screen.  

As the ROUS leaped out at Wesley, Dean jumped knocking a couple of clips into the floor.

“Smooth, Dean” Sam shot at his brother as the man pretended nothing had happen.

“Aw, did the movie scare you, Dean?” Amara said in a baby voice.

“Don’t be ridiculous.”  He set the gun down and dug into his own burger.

 “You can always cuddle with me if it bothers you, sweetie,” Amara winked.

 As the movie grew toward the climax, Dean abandoned his guns and moved next to Amara on the bed.  He was not pleased that the hot chick on screen seemed to be about to plunge a dagger into her heart.

“ _There’s a shortage of perfect breasts in this world, t’would be a pity to damage yours_.” Wesley’s voice said from the television.

“That is the smartest thing this dude has said all movie,” Dean grumbled, although he found himself leaning forward to see how this Humperdick dude would respond to Wesley’s threat of ‘to the pain.’  He was pleased to see the man drop his sword and good triumph over evil.  At least the movies got it right, Dean thought as he wrapped his arm around the now dozing Amara. 

Sam glanced toward the pair as he stood up, heading to his own bed, and couldn’t help but wonder if either of them would ever get past the “as you wish” point of their relationship because he was beginning to like this woman.  Granted, Sam might like any woman that got his brother to watch a ‘chick flick.’  He turned back to look at his brother.  Dean had a slight smile on his face and Amara had instinctively buried her head in his chest.  Sam grinned to himself and couldn’t help but hope that Amara would hurry back from Wales soon.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter makes reference to specific events in Supernatural Season six episodes 16-21.

A week after the great coma scare, Amara was firmly ensconced in Ianto’s flat with the young man assigned to fulfill her every whim--as long as it didn’t involve actually allowing her to leave the flat. 

Amara huffed as Ianto brought in their lunch. The worst part of what had happened with Sam was that Amara had to rebuild her mental structure.  Sam had saved her mind by pushing her out of his head the way he had, but it had severely damaged Amara’s abilities.  The rebuilding process was a bit like physical therapy and after every morning session, Amara was drained. 

“I’m so bored, Ianto,” she said, tossing the television remote onto the coffee table.  “And as much as I love James Bond, I don’t think I can take another film.  Do you know what I really want?”

Ianto arched an eyebrow at her whining.  “Amara, you are not leaving this flat.  Both Jack and River put their collective foot down about that.  Now, if there is anything else you want, I’ll see what I can do.” 

Amara laughed at Ianto’s assertive tone.  She hated to admit it, but she knew Jack and her mother were likely right about her remaining there until she’d healed and rested properly.

“I’m sorry I am such a horrible patient, Ianto.”  She leaned her head back.  “Why don’t you go back to work? I know you’re dying to at least go check in on the tourist center and the archives.” 

“Donna has everything well in hand there.  No worries.  She promised to call if they need me.”  Ianto noticed Amara’s eyes light up at the mention of Donna.  “Maybe she’d like to switch places with me this afternoon.  Would that appeal to you?” Ianto asked.

“I would like to see her since I haven’t been able to since I got back.  And this evening you and Jack should go out on a real date.  It would be so romantic.”

“We’ll think about it.”  Ianto looked over at his friend.  “Have you given any thought to the Archivist position at Torchwood?”

"Ianto, we’ve been over this, the only way I would ever consent to work at Torchwood is if it was in the field and even then, I wouldn’t do it for awhile.  I’m thinking I may just join the American branch anyway,” She smiled slightly at her friend’s worried expression.  The poor man had been a bit overprotective ever since Amara had come to Cardiff.  He was even worse than Jack.  Despite his worry, he did still manage to go pick up Donna after lunch.




Almost the moment his foot was out the door, Amara’s phone was ringing. 

“Dean,” Amara said, happily. “How is my favorite hunter this,” she glanced at her watch, “this lovely morning?  It’s like nine in the morning there, right?”

“Yeah, right around there.  How you doing, sugar?” Dean asked, his voice strangely distracted.

“I’m much better.  Ianto finally left me alone for a bit, so there’s some improvement on the protectiveness front.  But that doesn’t matter, what’s going on across the pond?” Amara asked, worriedly.  There was no reason for Dean to be calling this early unless something had happened.

“Amara, I’m really sorry.” Dean’s voice held steady and Amara clung to the sound as Dean’s next words hit her.  “It’s Rufus. He’s…he’s dead, ‘Mara.”

“How?” Amara tried to keep the steady tone in her voice.

“Eve.  A Khan worm basically.  She set a trap for hunters.  It got Samuel and one of our cousins too.  It almost got Bobby…” 

Amara was relieved to know that Dean’s pseudo father was safe, even if her own hunting mentor wasn’t. “So, now I’ve got a score to settle with the bitch too.”  Her voice took a rough edge.

Dean couldn’t help smiling bitterly at the other end. “I suppose you do.  But you rest up.  The last thing you need is to go off half-cocked.”

“Because you and Sam would never do that, would you?”  Amara heard Dean laugh at her clearly sarcastic tone.  “Thanks for telling me, Dean.  I…I really appreciate it.  Tell Bobby to let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

“Will do.  Get some more rest, Amara.”

“I will.  Good luck, Dean.”  The moment Dean’s phone call ended, so did Amara’s stoicism.

Donna entered the flat a bit later to find tear stains on Amara’s face.

“What happened to you, dearie?” Donna wrapped her arms around Amara.

“It’s my friend, Rufus.”

“The man who taught you to hunt?” 

“He’s dead.  That slag Eve killed him.”  Amara stood up and paced, her anger and frustration at not being able to leave Wales and help the boys pounded into the floor with each step.  “And I can’t do anything about it.”

Donna leaned back and waited for Amara’s temper to cool for a minute.  Finally, Amara collapsed onto the couch.  Donna quickly grabbed Ianto’s best red wine and a couple of glasses.  Recuperating or not, this sort of thing always called for wine.  Donna stayed with Amara the rest of the day, listening to Amara alternate between tales of Rufus and the Winchesters.

 _Any day now, she’ll realize what I’ve been tellin’ her since day one;_ Donna couldn’t help but think as Amara told her about waking up with Dean hovering nearby.  Hopefully Amara and her new Boy-Toy would get their act together before too much longer.

*****

Amara settled back onto the couch in the Hub clutching _Long Distance Phone Call_ by Carver Edlund.  Jack had started bringing the Supernatural books to Amara to both take her mind off Rufus and allow her to know more about the boys who were rapidly becoming so important to her.  Tears streaked Amara’s face as she thought about Dean selling his soul. 

Based on what she already knew from the boys’ themselves, she wasn’t looking forward to reading _No Rest for the Wicked_.  Reading about the man she begun to care about going to hell was going to be rough.  The books were providing her with insight into the boys, but it made her feel a bit like a voyeur into their lives.  She put the book back down.  Maybe she should ask before she read anymore.  Hopefully, Sam and Dean wouldn’t hate her for reading them.  As if summoned by her thoughts, Dean’s ringtone came over Amara’s cell phone.

“I was just thinking about you,” Amara said honestly as she answered.

“All naughty things I hope.”  Dean said a leer evident in his voice.  It had been three weeks since she’d last seen that leer, but she could still picture it as clear as ever.

Amara took a deep breath, “Actually…I have a confession and a question.”

“Shoot, but be quick, cause I have both those things too.”

“Kay, um, so I’ve been reading the Supernatural books.”

“What?” Dean asked voice low.

“I just--I wanted to understand everything you’ve been through and not just the cliff notes version.  I...Dean, I want to be there for you and not make you have to explain everything.  If it makes you feel any better, I tend to skim or skip over internal monologues…and sex scenes.” 

Dean laughed in spite of his slight annoyance.

“Will it bother you if I keep reading them?  Jack has the ones that go up to Sam falling into hell and I would like to read this Edlund guy’s version of events.  He sometimes has parts that you didn’t know or couldn’t see.”

Dean thought for a moment before answering, “Honestly, you all ready know it all anyway. There’s not much more dirty laundry to get out--Although, if you just skimmed the stuff with Anna that would probably be good.”

“You really don’t mind?” Amara’s surprise was obvious.

“No, I mind, but…it’s easier than reliving the whole nightmare that has been my life,”  Dean said.  “I’ll double check with Sam, but it’s not like you’re Becky or something.”

“Thanks, Dean.  Now, your turn.”

“I’m--well I’m about to go back in time to the Wild West.” The enthusiasm in Dean’s voice was unmistakable. 

“You’re what?”  Amara asked incredulously.

Dean quickly filled Amara in on the Phoenix that could take out Eve and about the only known killing of one in Sunrise, Wyoming in the 1800s.

“You’re certain this isn’t just an excuse for you to play dress-up, Dean?” Amara asked, amused by the excitement in Dean's voice.

“IT’S A FETISH!” came Sam’s yell from somewhere near his brother.

“I’m sure.  This is the only lead we have.  Now, Cas doesn’t know about your whole time-travel gig, but if you don’t hear from us in a bit over a day, can you send your Mom with a rescue party?” 

Amara huffed teasingly,“At least you’re not going off half-cocked,” She quickly wrote down the place and time that the brothers were heading too.  “Be careful, Dean.”

“I will, ‘Mara.  Talk to you tomorrow.”  And the phone call ended.  Amara buried herself into the Supernatural books, reminding herself that these boys had gone through worse than a small bit of time travel.  Never the less, when she got a text message from Dean about a day later, she felt something in her stomach unclench.

*******

“What do you mean you’re going after Eve?!”  Amara shouted into the phone.

“I mean we’re headed out now to take the bitch down,” Dean said voice cocky and self-assured.

“What happened to letting me come too?”

“You aren’t here,” Dean said, matter-of-factly.

“Don’t be a smartass, Dean Winchester.”  Amara stood pacing Jack’s office.  “How dare you not let me know? Rufus was my friend too and I wanted to help get rid of the slag.”

“You’ll just have to be around for the next big bad, won’t you?”

“Dean!”

“C’mon, Amara, we can’t put this off and you know Jack and Martha are not going to let you out of the country for at least another week.”

“Fine, but expect a serious butt-chewing if you get yourself killed,”  Amara said, voice returning to normal. 

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Seriously, Dean, just…be careful,” Amara said pleadingly.

“Always am, ‘Mara.  I’ll let you know when it’s over.”

“Okay.  Tell Sam, Bobby, and Cas to take care of themselves.”

“Yes, Mom.”  Dean laughed and hung up the phone not realizing that the next time he called her, it wouldn’t be all good news.

*************

Dean texted Amara the next day and let her know that Eve was dead but there were complications.  He’d call her when he had a chance.  Two days went by before Amara’s phone rang again, this time at seven o’clock in the morning.  The woman blearily looked at the caller idea and snapped awake when she saw Dean’s number there.

“Dean, sweetie, what’s wrong?” 

A broken voice came over the line. “It’s Cas. Turns out you were right not to trust him.”

“Dean, what are you talking about?” Amara bolted upright in bed, listening intently.

“Castiel…he, he made a deal with Crowley.”

“Crowley, isn’t he the dead King of Hell?”

“Not as dead as we thought.  He and Cas are gonna split the souls in Purgatory.”  Dean’s voice seemed to become choked as he spoke.

“That could end his war with Raphael, but Dean, the things in Purgatory--they’re there for a reason,” Amara warned.

“You think I don’t know that,” Dean barked.

“Don’t get angry at me, Dean.”  Amara said, standing up. “I haven’t even had my coffee yet this morning.”

“Sorry, I just--this is Cas.  I mean, up until tonight I would’ve thought that other than Sam and Bobby there was no one more trustworthy.  He was like another brother.”

“I’m so sorry, Dean,”  Amara consoled.  She knew how Dean felt about the angel and how tired he was of betrayel.

“Did you know?  Is that why you didn’t want Cas to know about your Dad?” Dean asked.

“No, nothing like that. It’s just from a young age, I’ve been taught to say as little about my dad as possible and to direct conversation about him away.  It’s a bit hard to explain, but I swear, if I’d even had an inkling of this, I would have told you, Dean.”

“Thanks, sugar,” Dean yawned through the phone.  “I’m gonna try to catch a few winks.  I just spent the last hour perfecting Bobby’s angel proofing so I’m beat.”

“I understand, Dean.  But hey, if you need to talk, I’m always here.”

“I know, Mara,” Dean ended the phone call and dropped into a short nap.

************

Dean stared at Lisa and Ben’s unknowing faces.  They’d never have to remember the horror that their life had been with him.  As far as they were concerned he was a stupid dumbass who had crashed into them.  Their life would go back to normal, no more worrying about what goes bump in the night and hopefully, no more being in danger because they might’ve once known Dean.  He’d gotten use to having family besides Sam and now he was remembering why that was a luxury he could not afford before and he definitely can’t do it now.  It was him, Sammy, and Bobby.  He wasn’t going to rely on anyone else.  He prayed for Castiel to return one more time and asked for one final favor.

“Make Amara forget me and Sam.  If she’d never met us, she’d still just be doing small hunts. She said it was either the biggest mistake or smartest move she’d ever make.  I know which one it is now.  Can you do this for me, Cas?”

“I will do my best.”  And with a slight rustle of wings, Cas was gone. 

Dean watched him leave, relief filling him at the thought that at least Amara would never have to be like Lisa.  They couldn’t use her against him and most of all, he wouldn’t be able to hurt her.

***************

Amara pulled on her jacket and grabbed her ticket.  She’d begun packing the moment she’d heard about Ben and Lisa’s abduction.  Both Martha and Jack had finally cleared her for travel after she'd explained the situation.  This time tomorrow, she’d hopefully be in Sioux Falls, South Dakota helping her friends.  She opened the door to find Castiel standing there.  She tripped backwards only to have the angel appear behind her, catching her as she fell.

“I am sorry, Amara,” the angel intoned, placing his hands on her head.  “But Dean wants you to forget.”  Amara stood there, dazed and then, she was alone.


	18. Chapter 18

There was a loud banging on the door of the motel. 

“Bobby probably forgot his key,” Sam said. 

Dean shrugged and pulled the door open. “Mara!” the man exclaimed in surprise.

“Don’t look so shocked, sweetie.” Amara said, closing Dean’s open jaw.

“But…but you…I--”

“Sent Castiel to use his wacky mind powers to erase you and your brother from my head.”  Amara’s voice took on a sharper tone. “Did it ever occur to you that with whom my father is I might be able to stop him?” 

Sam wisely ducked out the door as Amara advanced on his retreating brother.

“Do you realize what all I had to do to find you?  And when I called Lisa, she acted like she’d never heard of you.”  Amara poked Dean in the chest.  “And care to tell me why after everything Sam has been through,everything Donna’s been through—why would you think that messing with anyone’s mind was okay?” 

Dean’s face took an angrier turn, “I dunno. Why would it be okay for her to be in danger just because she was my girlfriend? Why should I have to worry about who’s going to come after the people I love to get to me? “

“You chauvinistic asshat, how does that give you the right to erase yourself from our lives?  Did it ever occur to you that knowing you changed Lisa and Ben for the better?  That maybe knowing you were out there protecting them gave them some faith in the world?”  Tears fell from Amara’s eyes.  “Have you ever thought that maybe you and Sam saving the world gives people a bit of hope?” 

Dean hung his head slightly as Amara’s words hit him.  He’d known that erasing himself from their lives wasn’t the fair choice, but if life was fair, Lisa and Ben would never have been kidnapped to get to him.  The still furious woman watched the expression on Dean’s face change.

“I just wanted them, and you, to be safe.”  The usually rough voice came out small and Amara felt her anger soften slightly.

“And that’s admirable, Dean, but number one, I’m always in danger, that’s part of my life.” Dean opened his mouth to speak and Amara silenced him with a finger.  “Number two, maybe we wouldn’t want to forget you.”  She placed her hand along his cheek.  “Maybe you and Sam are the best things to come our way in a long time.”

 “You don’t get it.  I don’t deserve someone like Lisa or you.  After everything I did in hell…and even out of it, I shouldn’t get to be happy.  I’ll never have that type of life.  I’ll spend the rest of my days hunting with Sammy until one day I’m not as lucky or not as fast.  Then I’ll be done.  I don’t get anything else. I can’t.” Dean’s voice broke slightly as he finished speaking.

“Oh, Dean sweetie, everyone deserves to be happy and no matter what you like to think, you don’t have the exclusive on loss. I know that it sometimes seems like it, but…” New tears slipped from Amara’s eyes.  “You’re not the only one that doesn’t think they deserve something good after what they’ve done.  I don’t wanna forget you, Dean.”  Dean’s entire demeanor shifted and he wrapped his arms around the petite redhead. 

“What’s going on?”

“It’s not important.” Amara pulled back slightly, steeling herself.  “My point is that you don’t have to be alone.  People go through sad times all the time and all we have is each other to get through them.  But you seem intent on cutting people off, on making sure that all you have is your brother who is just as emotionally screwed up as you and Bobby who is almost as emotionally stunted as you.  That’s part of how you cope, I get that.  But one day, Dean, you’re going to blow up.  You need an outlet and I want to be there for you, but if you continue to cut yourself off, how can I be?” 

Dean looked down into Amara’s deep green eyes.  He knew that she was right.  He’d gotten use to having Lisa to talk to and now, he missed having that sanity to hold onto.  And since losing Cas it was like there was a dam that was about to overflow.  He knew that probably had something to do with why he’d asked Cas to erase their memories.   He just couldn’t take anymore and as long as Lisa and Ben were in his life, he’d have that dependency.  He’d asked for Amara’s memories to be wiped because he knew he was already becoming just as attached to her. If he was going to die, he might as well not leave many mourners behind.  And if he didn’t die, he’d only wind up screwing up a good thing.  But it seemed Amara wasn’t going to let him get away and if the way he was still holding onto her was any indication, he wasn’t inclined to give her up either.




“Okay, you win.” Dean acquiesced.  It wasn’t like he had much of a choice.  “No more doing things on my own, but that has to apply both ways. You can’t try to handle everything on your own either.  So tell me, what’s going on?  There’s something more bothering you.”

“A few years ago, I did something , something I can’t talk about, but it wasn’t my finest moment.  On top of that, I called my mom to help me find you.  It’s a much later version of her than the one you met.  She mentioned that she was trying to convince my dad to take her to the Singing Towers.  Not too long after that, she’ll die,” Amara spoke.  “Both things tend to make me a bit emotional.  I’m not ready to lose my Mum, Dean.

“I’m sorry, Amara.”   He let her bury her face into his chest for a moment before speaking again, “Hey, how far did you get in those books?”




“I finished through Lucifer’s rise.  After that one…I got your call about Cas and decided the rest needed to wait.”

“We were sent back in time once not to long after Lucifer’s rise.  We were sent back to save our Mom and Dad from a crazed angel chick.  That was when we tried to convince Mom not to have us, but…she was already pregnant.  But coming back, it was sort of like losing her all over again and we knew it was coming. But I don't think Sam or I would trade those few hourse with either of our parents for anything.”

 Amara looked up at him, “Would that be the same angel chick you slept with?” Amara teasingly raised an eyebrow.  It did no good to dwell on the things they couldn’t change and Amara was tired of crying.

 “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”  Dean feigned ignorance.

“I’ll bet you don’t.” Amara bantered. 

Dean leaned down and brushed his lips over hers.  He intended it to be a slight brushing of lips, but the kiss quickly turned more heated as the two gave into the emotions that they had been bottling up since Amara had left for Cardiff. 

Before things could go on for too long, Sam reentered the room and cleared his throat.  The two broke apart hesitantly, but Dean’s arm remained firmly around Amara’s waist.

“Sorry, but we have a lead on Castiel.  Bobby finally tracked down his friend.” 

Dean nodded and glanced down at Amara.  “I’ll call you when this is over, but…until it is I need you out of it.  I can’t focus on Purgatory if I’m worried about you.” 

“You do know I can take care of myself right?”  she said, a mischievous gleam in her eye.

“Yes, but I’m a chauvinistic butthead, remember?”

Amara rolled her eyes. “Asshat,” the woman corrected. “And how could I forget?  Fine, I won’t get in your way.  I’ll go check with some sources as well.   See if I can figure out where the rogue angel is.”  She pressed a quick kiss to his lips

Dean watched the woman walk out of the room.  He knew he should forget about her, let her go live her life.  Amara had a family and yet, for some reason, she kept coming back to rescue the Winchesters.

Sam watched his older brother’s eyes follow Amara and glaze over with thought when she left.  He knew his brother well enough to expect the conversation that was coming. Sometimes being a member of a family of martyr complex ridden people sucked.

“What am I doing, man?  This is just gonna end up like Lisa.” Dean grabbed his gear and headed toward the Impala. 

Sam followed, “You don’t know that.  Lisa and Ben, they were civvies.  Amara’s part of not only this life, but has a whole other universe of problems.”

“So why is she trying to take mine on, Sammy?  What can I possibly give her that she can’t get anywhere else?”

"Honestly, Dean, I don’t know, but she there must be something, even if it’s only friendship.  Although, I don’t have any friends I’d kiss like that.” Sam teased briefly and then turned serious. “But , Amara keeps coming back to us when we need her.  Isn’t that what you do for someone you love?  You take on their problems and make them yours. Dean, maybe this is your chance to finally have that.”   




Dean didn’t say a word as they drove to meet Bobby. He simply mulled over his brother’s words and his own thoughts.  Maybe, Amara could deal with his crazy.  It didn’t seem to matter.  The way he felt wasn’t leaving him many options, he could either hold on forever, be dependent on her and wind up likely hurting her at some point, or he could push her away and be a miserable bastard, but Amara was not the type to let go of something easily.

Dean tamped down the chick flick thoughts and focused on the mission. He had an angelic brother to take care of before he could worry about his love life.

*******

Dean opened the door to Bobby’s house as Amara’s car squealed into the driveway.  She leapt from her seat and ran inside.

“How bad is he?”

“I dunno,” Dean said, leading Amara to the panic room.  “We just brought him home and put him in the panic room for protection.” 

“Okay, has he muttered anything, fought anything?”

“No, he’s been completely comatose, but he looks like he’s in pain.” 

Amara entered the room to see Bobby keeping a worried watch over Sam. “Dean, what happened?”  She knelt next to the cot, taking in Sam’s pained expression.

“Exactly what I told you.  Cas appeared and Sam’s wall came tumbling down.  He said he’d fix it when this is all over.” 

Amara gazed down at the sleeping man.  “This could take awhile.”

As she moved to the chair, Sam’s body arched off the bed.  Dean was immediately by his brother’s side, holding him down and keeping him from hurting himself. 

“Here we go.”  Amara connected to Sam’s mind and began looking for his consciousness.

“ _Sam!” Her voice rang out across a forest. She began trekking through it away from her entrance.  She finally found him, sitting next to the body of the woman his soulless self had killed._

_“Amara?”  He glanced up.  “This…this isn’t real.   You’re not real.  Am I just…are you another guide to lead me where I need to go?”  Sam’s face was streaked with tears.  “I remember everything he did now.”_

_“Sam, Sam it’s me.  Dean called me and brought me to Bobby’s to try to help you.  C’mon, let’s get up,”  She dragged the man to his feet._

_“I found half myself, Amara,” Sam said.  “I have all those memories.  Why didn’t we just do it this way?”_

_“Because, Sam, the only way to wake up this way is to get all the memories.”_

_Sam shot her a panicked look, “Well, then you have to go.  I…I can’t put you through that again.  You might’ve died last time…and this time Dean is almost ready to admit how he feels.  He’d never forgive himself.”_

_Amara glanced sharply at Sam. “What are you talking about?”_

_“Nothing, it’s his secret.  We-no, I should head to Bobby’s.  That’s the only place I can think of.”_

_Amara agreed and climbed into the Impala.   She felt a tap on her shoulder._

_“Sam, I’ll be right back.  Dean needs to talk to me. But you are not doing this alone.”  Sam nodded and Amara quickly found her way out of Sam’s mind._   She pulled her hands back to see Bobby waiting with someone outside the door.

“Amara, this is Balthazar.”

“Anther angel?”

“Yes, and you’re just another alien,” the angel said angrily.  “Although the last time I saw someone with that much Vortex energy around them, he was immortal.” 

Amara smiled, “Was it Captain Jack by any chance?”

“Jack Harkness?” Balthazar said in astonishment.  His eyes taking on a much more interested look. “Yes, is he still in Cardiff?” 

“Where else would he be?”  Amara allowed a grin to stretch her face.  Of course Uncle Jack knew an angel.

 “Maybe I should pay a visit when this is all over.”

“I wouldn’t,” Dean spoke up.  “His boyfriend seems a bit territorial to me.”

“Oh god, it’s not you is it?” 

Dean’s face paled at the thought. “God no, it’s a friend of hers,” Dean pointed at Amara.

“He and his boyfriend work for the same company, but you should drop by anyway, that is if you weren’t trying to kill him.  He usually gets annoyed at that.”

 Balthazar smirked back. “ I vaguely remember that and I’ll keep it in mind.  Now, you boys have the address.  Gotta fly.”  And the angel was gone.

“So you know where Cas is?”  Amara asked. 

“Yeah, you gonna be okay to stay with Sasquatch?” Dean sent a worried look toward his brother.

“We’ll be fine.  Go, you don’t have a second to lose.” 

Bobby and Dean exchanged glances.  Bobby headed upstairs.

“Call me when it’s over,” Amara said.  

“I will. Here’s the address.” He slipped the paper into her hand, “in case Sam wakes up,”

“We’ll head that way,”  Amara easily agreed.

“No, just--”

“Dean, we are not having this argument again.  Sam and I will head that way once he wakes up.”  She pulled him to her in a fierce kiss.  “Now, go be the big damn hero.”

“Yes ma’am.”  Dean kissed her again, this time tenderly.  “I’ll be back.” His voice promised, though his eyes screamed his doubt and he headed up the stairs.

“You better be.”  And she headed back in.  It took more energy than Amara cared to admit to reach so deeply into Sam’s head.

  _He’d gone to Bobby’s, which represented the safest place in his mind._

_“How you doing, Sammy?” She asked._

_“I’ve been better,” he admitted.  Once they had entered the house, they found a burning Sam.  He tried to convince Sam not to take back the hell memories, because they’d make him go crazy._

_“Not with me here,” Amara assured him.  “We can do this.  All he has to do is have them for a moment.  Then I’ll bury them as deeply as I can.”_

_The Hell Sam actually looked relieved at her words, “That…that might work.”_

_“Of course it will, Sam.  Don’t you trust me? Let’s do it.”  She grabbed onto Sam’s hand as the burning Sam combined with Sam’s consciousness._

Sam woke with a start, Amara barely pulling clear.

“We have to go.”  Sam said, noticing his brother and Bobby were missing.

“Wait, first, I have to bury those memories.  You’re no good to anyone crazy.”


	19. Chapter 19

Sam and Amara had arrived in the building to find Castiel had opened Purgatory and Dean was pleading with him to release his new energy.

“I’ve lost Lisa, I’ve lost Ben, I lost Amara, and now I’ve lost Sam.”  He saw them out of the corner of his eyes making their way down the stairs.  “Don’t make me lose you too.” 

Cas began speaking,  pointing out that Dean was only saying those things because Castiel had won.  Sam reached for the angel’s blade and stabbed it into Castiel’s back. 

Amara screamed.  But nothing happened.  Castiel calmly removed the blade and explained he was no longer an angel.

“I'm your new God, a better one. So, you will bow down and profess your love to me, your Lord, or I shall destroy you.” Castiel’s voice rang through the building.

“Oh, I don’t think so.”  A young bowtie clad man spoke with authority. He stood in front of the self-proclaimed God, a blue box behind him, and River Song by his side. 

Castiel tilted his head looking at the man, “You do not exist.”  The former angel’s fingers snapped.

The man jumped, “That tickles.”  He took on a serious look again. “But sorry, your powers don’t work here, not while I’ve got this.”  He pointed to River who held up a spinning trinket.

“Mum?” Amara  spoke quietly sidling up to the blue box.  It was finally happening, she was meeting her father.

“Oh, hello darling.”  River extended her other hand toward her daughter.  “Sweetie here found an anomalous time energy reading and the TARDIS brought us to investigate.” 

“Of course,”  Amara said, pretending this was the most nautral thing in the worl.  She took her mother’s hand and began to watch her father work.

“Now, what to do with you?”  The Doctor asked, as he walked around Castiel, ignoring the conversation going on behind him.

“Is there any way to defuse him?” Dean asked glancing warily at the god he once considered a brother. “Preferably without hurting him?”

“Hurting him?” The alien’s face took on a shocked expression, “I would never.  He’s brilliant.” The bowtie clad man turned back to Castiel.  “I am so sorry this happened to you.  But you’ve taken in too much energy. No one is supposed to have this kind of power.”  The alien continued to stare at Castiel.  “There’s only one thing to do.  This is going to hurt quite a lot I’m afraid.”  The Doctor snapped his fingers and the doors of the blue box opened. 

Castiel didn’t move.

“What’s your name?” The man asked the angel. 

The trench coat clad vessel merely raised an eyebrow at him.

“It’s Castiel.”  Sam offered.  “We call him Cas for short.”

“Cas…Cas…” The man played the words off his tongue for a moment, “Yes, I like that.  Come along, Cas.” 

The vessel merely continued to stare at the exuberant man.  Sam and Bobby quickly went into action, manhandling Castiel into the blue box.

"You will not force me. That is not the way of the Gallifreyans,” Castiel spoke for the first time, as he was brought onto a platform in the middle of the room.




“In case you haven’t heard, I’m the last one left.  And I tend to make my own rules.  That being said, this energy will be removed and sent back where it belongs, but how to do it, that part is entirely up to you. If you resist the process, it will likely kill you.  However, I will give you one chance first.  If you willingly look into the heart of the TARDIS, your power will be removed and remade.  It’s a bit like a do-over button.  The TARDIS will give you what she believes you deserve.  All of this, torturing your friends, making whatever deals you have made, it’ll all be gone.  A fresh clean start.  What do you say?”

Castiel looked uncertain.

“Do you really mean he’ll be back the way he was?” Dean asked from the door.

“I can’t guarantee that, but he’ll have a new start. The heart of the TARDIS is very powerful.  She’ll look into him and see what he truly wants.”  The alien turned back to the former angel, “I’ll give you a minute to think about it.”  The bow tie clad man left the trench coated man staring at the console as he turned back to the waiting group.

“You’re sure this is for the best?” Bobby asked.  “It wouldn’t be better to just redo the spell that made him like this.”

“I’m afraid not.  If I weren’t here, it would likely be your best choice, but unfortunately for Cas here, there’s more than just souls in that new shiny power source of his.”

“What else is in there?” Sam asked.

“Right question,” the strange man smiled proudly at Sam. “I love it when people ask the right questions.  And the answer is simple, I have no idea.  Could be anything from Slitheen eggs to leviathans.”

“Leviathans?”  Dean spoke.

“Nasty creatures.”  The Doctor explained, “Virtually unstoppable.  That’s why they’ve been placed into the Void, the nothingness between worlds.”

The statement left everyone in silence until the angel finally turned around.

“I will do it,” Castiel said quietly. 

“Very good choice, Cas.  I knew you were a clever one.  Okay, everyone but me outside.  This will be a massive energy release.  I want all of you fragile humans clear.” 

The group exited the TARDIS with no grumbling.  The doors of the ship closed as the Doctor pushed a button.  A bright light filled the windows as everyone looked on.

 Dean made his way over to Amara.

“River,” he said by way of a greeting.

“Do I know you?”  The archaeologist asked.

“Not yet,” he winked.  “I’m Dean Winchester, a…friend of Amara’s.”  He leaned over to Amara. “So that’s him…your dad, I mean?” 

Before Amara could nod, her father was walking out of the TARDIS and back toward them.

 Sam stepped toward the man, “So am I right in assuming that you’re the Doctor?”

“You’ve heard of me?”  The alien’s voice was surprised.

“From River,” Sam said, smiling at the woman who was still holding onto her daughter.

“I’ve never met you before, either,” the archaeologist spoke, confusedly.

“Future you, Mum.” Amara said.

“Mum?  When did you find time to have a daughter?”  the Doctor exclaimed.

“Oh, I believe it was the last time you took me to Calderon Beta.” 

The Doctor’s face colored slightly, “Ah, yes.  I…um, that is…”

“Congratulations, Dad, it’s a girl,” Bobby said, clapping the alien on the shoulder.

“Dad?”  The Doctor looked as if he were about to faint.  “How is this--how did you keep it a secret from me for so long?”

“It wasn’t that hard, darling.”

“I’m sorry,” Dean interrupted.  “Not to butt in on your personal drama, but our friend is still in your ship.”

“Oh yes, sorry.”  The Doctor reopened the doors just as the lid on the center console closed.

“It’s not as big as I thought,” Amara said, stepping inside.

“Bigger than on the outside,” Dean said next to her before hurrying to help care for the comatose angel. “Doc, he is gonna be okay, right?” 

The Doctor touched the console of the ship and began reading the result of Castiel’s new scan, “She’s rewritten his basic DNA.  He’s no longer an angel. All he really wanted was to be your brother.  So the TARDIS has made him human using you and your brother's DNA.  Interesting choice.  I’ve been human a few times, not what I would have chosen.  But that’s why he’s not me.”  The Doctor mused to himself.  “Now, where shall we take you?”

“The nearest motel will be fine.  I’ve gotta get my car in the morning,”  Dean said.  “How long before Sleepy hear wakes up?”

“Overnight at the very least.  All of his memories will be intact, but should be fuzzy, like a nightmare.” 

“A nightmare?  He tried to make my little brother go crazy and he only gets a nightmare.”

“We all make mistakes--,” the Doctor paused. “I’m sorry, I don’t believe I caught any of your names.  I’m not normally this rude.”

“Yes he is,” River assured them.

“I’m Sam Winchester and this is my brother--.”

“Dean,” the Doctor finished, grinning manically.  “Oh, of course of the Winchester Gospels.  This makes him the Castiel.  I knew that name sounded familiar. 

“Geez, has everyone heard of those damn books?” Dean asked angrily.

“No, I believe there are still a few planets in the Medusa Cascade who haven’t had time to watch the Holo-disks.” 

Dean’s head dropped and he began muttering to himself. 

"And you must be Bobby Singer?”  the Doctor asked the grizzled old man.

“That’s me,”  Bobby said.  “And you’re the time traveling alien then?”

The Doctor gave a laugh, “That’s me, or well I suppose it would be better to say I am one.  There are a number of different types of aliens that can travel through time, not to mention the ones that simply fall through the Rift and--”

“Doctor,” River interrupted.  “You’re rambling again.” 

The Doctor blushed slightly before finally turning to the room’s final occupant, “So, what’s your name?” 

“Amara Amelia Song.”  She said, offering her hand, “It’s nice to finally meet you, Dad.” 

*********

Once all the Winchesters and Bobby had dragged the sleeping ex-angel into the motel, the Doctor turned back to mother and daughter.

“So how did you come to be on Earth, Amara?”

“I was raised by a very good friend of yours.” 

River came up behind her daughter and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.  The Doctor looked at his wife quizzically.

“Captain Jack Harkness,” she answered.

“You left an innocent child with Jack?”  The Doctor’s appalled voice carried throughout the console room.

“Jack is a great man, Dad,” Amara said, defensively.  “He always took care of me.  He’s more protective than ten fathers could be.”

“It’s true,” River said with a nod.  “He’s tougher on her than I could ever be.” 

Amara smirked at her mother, “That’s because you can never say no to me.”

“Also true,” River admitted easily. “Now, I’m going to go tend to those nice men.  They looked a bit beaten up.”  She quickly left the Tardis, smiling to herself. Her two most important people had met.  No matter what else happened in her life she’d accomplished that.

“You should visit Jack sometime. You can grill him on all the protections he placed on me and how many ways I circumvented them,” Amara spoke once her mother was gone.

“What are you doing in America then?”

“Well, when I was about 18, Jack sent me to America to hide me from some bounty hunters.  That’s how I got into the hunting game.”  The two recounted past events of their life for the next little while until they got the most difficult one.

“I know, just so you know.” Amara said.  “I know how Mum dies.”

“I’m sorry, my dear.  You shouldn’t have to know that, not yet.  How did you find out?”

Amara hesitated before answering, “I was helping…someone and found out.”

“It always makes the leaving hard doesn’t it?” The Doctor asked.

“Yeah, it does.” 

An awkward silence settled onto the two for a moment.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been there for you,” the Doctor finally said.  “If I’d known I had a daughter…”

“You would have been rather confused and then, tried to find me.”

“Which could have prevented me making you,” the Doctor finished.

“Don’t you just love paradoxes?” Amara said sarcastically.

A few more minutes passed while the Doctor seemed to be contemplating something. 

“Amara, travel with me.”

“What?”

“Come and see the stars with me.  I want to get to know you.” 

Amara was flabbergasted. It had never occurred to her that she might travel with her father. At best, she hoped he’d be like her mum and pop in every now and again.




“Are you serious?”

“I’ve already missed so much of your life; I don’t want to miss any more. Plus, there are lots of Time Lord-y things I can teach you.  We can go see the dogs with no noses on Barcelona, visit Shakespeare…” the exuberant father was already flying around the console as if he would leave that very second.

Amara smiled at her father’s excitement.

“Didn’t you already do that with Martha?”

“You know Martha?”

“Of course I know Martha and Mickey.” 

The Doctor smiled broadly and went back to his sales pitch. “Ooh and we can go to the Leisure Hive on Argolis, Ancient Rome; I haven’t been there in decades.  Name a place in the whole of space and time and we can go.”

“Can I think about it?  This is all so sudden…and I have friends and family here on Earth…” 

The Doctor’s face fell a bit.  “Yeah, of course.  I was just excited.  The last time I had a daughter-“

“Jenny, I know.”

“Your mother doesn’t even know about that.  How do you?”  the Doctor’s face took on a more suspicious gaze.

“Spoilers,” Amara smiled faintly, thinking of Donna.

“That’s just not fair.” The Doctor said with a laugh. 

“While you’re here though, can you take a look at Sam’s brain?  His body and soul were separated for a year.  His soul was in Hell while his body was here.  I’ve done the best I can to help him, but I’m not exactly trained for this.”  Her father glanced toward the door a bit forlornly.  “I promise to give you my answer in the morning.  But no matter what I decide, we’ll have to pop over to Cardiff.  Uncle Jack would never forgive me if we didn’t.”

The Doctor’s face transformed into a brilliant smile, “Sounds lovely.  Now let’s go check on this brain.” 


	20. Chapter 20

The Doctor pulled his hands back from the tall man’s head.

“You did an excellent job, Amara.  The memories are sufficiently buried.  I put another layer of protection around them, but you should be fine, Sam Winchester.”

“Thanks, sir.  It’s your daughter really.  She taught me how to focus.  Without her, I don’t know that I would’ve made it through getting all these memories back.” 

Amara arched an eyebrow disbelieving, “You’d have been fine, Sam.”

“Maybe.”  He admitted, “But I really do believe it was easier with the techniques you taught me.”

“You’ve got a good kid there, Doc.”  Bobby agreed patting Amara on the arm.

“I barely know her and I’m already proud.” 

Amara smiled embarrassedly at her father. “Well, I am heading to bed.  I’m a bit tired.  It’s been an insane few days.  Sam, you should probably get some sleep too.” 

Sam glanced over at the angel sleeping peacefully in the bed next to him.  “I’ll think about it.” 

She rolled her eyes, “Stubborn Winchesters.”  She kissed Sam on the cheek and turned to her mother.

“She’s just as stubborn.”  Sam muttered. 

River laughed loudly. “Isn’t that the truth?”

Amara stuck her tongue out at her mother and Sam.

River turned toward her husband.“Now I believe I need to be heading back to the Storm Cage.”  The archaeologist brought her arm forward placing a wrist strap directly in front of the alien.   




“Bye, Mum.” Amara wrapped her mother into a quick hug as her father pulled out his sonic screwdriver.  After a few adjustments, River disappeared.

“Well, I guess that’s that.  Now I really am going to bed.”  Amara looked over at Sam still sitting expectantly next to Castiel’s bed.  “Bobby, will you--”

“I’ll make sure the idjit gets to bed.  Dean’s probably wallowing somewhere too,”  the old man said, starting to stand.

“Stay there.  I’ll handle Mr. Guilt Complex.”  Amara assured.  “You just handle that one.”  She inclined her head toward the taller brother, whose head was already beginning to loll back.

“All right.  I got it.”

“G’night, Dad, Bobby,” and the redhead swept from the room.

The Doctor stared at the door his daughter exited through.

“I don’t know if I remember how to be a father,” he admitted quietly.

“It’s not like she needs you to teach her to walk and feed herself, idjit. Just love her…and I would try not to lock her up to keep her out of danger.  She doesn’t seem to react well to that,” Bobby chuckled, thinking of Amara’s reaction to Jack’s protective instincts.

“Thank you, Bobby,” the Doctor said, smiling thankfully.

"I’ve got my boys to have practiced on.”  Bobby inclined his head to the now dozing Sam.  “I figure if you’re out of practice, my expertise with these idjits should remind you a bit. Their daddy, he wasn’t around all that much, so I sorta adopted’em.  He’d drop the boys off for months at a time when they were younger…until Dean was old enough to help him hunt, then it was all about traveling as a family.” Bobby huffed at his friend’s behavior.  “John and I…we would do anything for those boys. John actually sold his soul to save Dean’s life.”




“I remember the story,” the bow tied man said quietly.  “He gave up everything to keep his son alive.”

“I’d have done the same,” Bobby admitted quietly.  “But the older they get, the more I have to accept they aren’t those little boys I had to get onto about stealing pens from each other. “  A fond smile settled onto Bobby’s face, “Most of the time anyway.  Sometimes, I swear it’s like they’re 12 years old again.  Just the other day, I had to break up a fight over twizzlers, not to mention the never ending battle of Chuck Norris vs. Jet Li.”  Bobby quickly began to relate the family’s last movie night to the Doctor. 

A few minutes later, Sam was jolted awake by the sounds of laughter from Bobby and the Doctor.

***********

Amara entered her room to find Dean sitting in the dark.

"Wanna talk about it?" she asked.

“Why couldn’t I just trust him?”  The man said, “I couldn’t give him the one thing he asked for.  And the damndest part is he was right.  He’s always backed me up.”

“Always?  Even when you wanted to say yes to Michael.” 

Dean cracked a smiled, “No, not then, but everyone was against me then.”

“And wasn’t everyone against Cas now?”  Amara sat down next to Dean, taking his hands into hers.

“Yeah, but he was my best friend.  And I just left him out to dry.  He told me he was doing all of this for me.  Because I showed him that being free was worth it.  Ya know what I said to that?  I called him a child.  I just don’t understand why he’d trust Crowley over us.”

“No one says he did, Dean.  We both know that Castiel is a lot like you.  He protects those he loves with no thought to the cost to himself.  And now, he is human.  You’ve got to begin letting go of what happened before.”

“How do we just move on from this?”  Dean asked, a tear streaking down his cheek.

“One step at a time. You did what you felt was right, Dean.  And so did Cas.  When he wakes up, make him Castiel Winchester and forgive him like you would Sam or Bobby.  Give him as clean of a slate as you can.  Maybe listen to why he felt he had to do it, since I have a feeling you never did before.”  Amara raised an eyebrow at Dean who looked guiltily back.

“You know me a little too well.” He brought his lips down to hers.  “Thanks.”

“It’s what I’m here for.”  She smiled happily for a moment and then glanced toward the window.  “So, my dad checked out Sam.  He’s going to be fine.  Apparently, I did everything right by instinct.”

“Your Dad must be impressed with that.” 

Amara shrugged as if it didn’t matter but her eyes were shining brightly “What are you going to do now?” she asked.

“Start rehabilitating my new brother, I suppose. Wonder if Bobby can put up with the lot of us until we get Cas on his feet?  It could be a long cramped few weeks.” 

Amara bit her lip in thought at Dean’s words, “I was going to tell you, but there hasn't really been time. Uncle Jack gave me the oddest gift before I left.”  Amara pulled a key out of her pocket.

“It’s to a house an hour or so south of Sioux Falls.  It’s mine.  Apparently, someone,” Amara looked pointedly at Dean, “told my uncle I deserved a reward for everything I’ve been doing.”

“I just spoke the truth, sugar.” 

“Well, thank you.  Now, since this house is a bit bigger than Bobby’s, take it.  I want you guys to have it.”  She handed the key to him.

“Amara…”

“Just let me bunk there when I need to and it can become that home base you’ve always wanted.  We’ll make sure it gets all nice and decked out.” 

“Are you sure?”  Amara nodded and Dean pulled her to him in a crushing kiss.  Before she knew it, they were tumbling onto the bed and into each other.

********

Dean traced Amara’s bare arm with his finger, his other arm propping up his head as he spooned against the still naked woman.

“A few months ago, who would’ve thought I’ve have found someone who could actually get this crazy life,” Dean kissed Amara’s shoulder.  “You get this crazy job, you understand me, and I just--I love you, Amara.”  Dean went quiet for a moment, letting his confession sink in. 

“Dean, this is all so new, I--” Amara began.

Dean placed his finger on her lips, stopping her speech.  “I don’t want a response, Amara.  I just, I needed to say it.”  He dropped a kiss onto her lips before changing the subject, “So I was thinking, maybe we should get a King size bed for our room.  I think I’d like being able to roll around with you.  And some blackout curtains so we can stay in bed all day without worrying about the sun,” Dean mused. “And of course a lock to keep Sammy and Cas from wandering in.” 

Amara rolled to face him. “Dean, I--" Her words stopped cold at the look of happiness and hopefulness in the man’s eyes.  She had never seen him look so young before and she would not take that away from him, not yet at least. “A lock sounds like a good idea.” 

Dean smiled and pulled Amara to his chest as he drifted off to dreams of finally having a life of his own, one that wasn’t all about Sam or the job, but included some happiness for himself.

Amara lay there listening to the man’s breathing and coming to a decision of her own.

Dean woke up the next morning to a cold spot next to him.  His stomach clenched as he heard a VWORPing sound.  Dean bolted out of bed and ran to the door just in time to see the blue box disappear from view.  And in Dean’s heart he knew, Amara was running with her father.

*********

Six months later…

 _Same shit, different hotel,_ Dean thought as he stared at the salt circle. After what seemed like entirely too long there was a knock at the door.  Sam’s back-up, whoever it was, had arrived even if they were late.  He threw open the door, expecting to see Bobby or maybe Garth.

“It’s about time you…”

“Hey Dean,” Amara Song greeted softly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's the end. At least for the moment. I've got a hopefully short sequel in the works as well as a few oneshots of Amara growing up with Jack Harkness for a guardian. I hope you've enjoyed it. Don't forget to review and leave kudos. Thanks.


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